Oct. 21, 2001

Final Stats

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The Fighting Illini women's soccer team recorded its first tie of the season matching the Purdue Boilermakers in a 1-1 affair. Illinois moves to 7-6-1 on the year, 5-3-1 in the Big Ten.

"Having a tie is better than a loss," head coach Tricia Taliaferro said. "Both teams had opportunities. Team play was great the first 45 minutes, but Purdue took the momentum after that."

Freshman Tara Hurless scored the Illini's only goal of the day on an assist from Tiffany Walker. At the 24:43 mark, Walker hit Hurless for the break-away goal the put the Illini on the board. Illinois retained the lead until the 82nd minute when Purdue's Lauren Sesselmann tied the game at one. Neither team was able to put one in the net in either of the two overtime periods.

Overall the Boilermakers outshot the Illini by a 24-15 margin, Freshman goalkeeper Leisha Alcia logged all 120 minutes guarding the net saving six of Purdue's seven shots on goal.

"We had a lot of opportunities," junior forward Laura Freeman said. "We fought hard, they just capitalized on one of our lapses."

The Illini return to Champaign for their final homestand of the regular season next weekend. Illinois meets Iowa to close out the Big Ten portion of the schedule on Friday at 7 p.m. Illinois State comes to the Illini Soccer and Track Stadium for a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday.