Purdue Welcomes Miami (Ohio) for Pooches at the Pitch

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue soccer team returns home to host Miami (Ohio) on Sunday, August 28, at 1 p.m. ET, at Folk Field.
 
Admission is free for all fans to every regular-season home game in 2022. Sunday is the annual Pooches at the Pitch game, where fans are invited to bring their four-legged friends to cheer on the Boilermakers. The first 150 fans with dogs will receive a Purdue dog leash.
 
The match will be broadcast live on B1G+, and live stats are available at Purdue.Statbroadcast.com. Updates also can be found by following @PurdueSoccer on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, while direct links to follow along are available on the schedule page at PurdueSports.com/Soccer.
 
Both the Boilermakers (1-2-0) and Redhawks (1-1-1) are coming off one-goal defeats on Thursday. Purdue was edged at Kentucky, 2-1, while Miami suffered a 1-0 home loss to Wright State.
 
Through two games, Purdue leads the Big Ten with 6.00 saves per game and is fourth with seven total assists. Individually, freshman forward Naomi Splittorff, the Big Ten Freshman of the Week, is tied for the conference lead with one game-winning goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Sara Kile has 17 total saves, the most in the Big Ten and No. 19 nationally. Sophomore forward Gracie Dunaway also paces the conference with two goals, and she is second with 1.67 points per game. Additionally, freshman forward Kayla Budish is second in the Big Ten with two assists and fourth with a .667 shot accuracy.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. MIAMI (OHIO)
The Boilermakers are 2-1-1 all-time against the Redhawks and 1-1 in West Lafayette. The last meeting took place in 2014 at Folk Field, a 1-0 Miami victory. That came one year after Purdue posted a 4-3, double-overtime win in Oxford, Ohio. The first matchup occurred in 2002, a 1-1 draw in Ohio, followed by a 3-2 Boilermaker home win in 2004.
 
All-time against Mid-American Conference opponents, Purdue is 25-5-3 after a 5-1 triumph over Ball State in 2021.
 
SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS
Miami (Ohio) owns a 1-1-1 mark and a 1-0-0 record away from home. The Redhawks opened the campaign with a scoreless draw to Austin Peay and followed it up with a 1-0 win at Loyola Chicago. On Thursday, the team suffered a 1-0 loss to Wright State at home. The lone goal came in the 49th minute.
 
Miami leads the MAC with a .929 save percentage and a 0.333 goals-against average. The Redhawks are fifth with 0.33 assists per game and 4.33 corner kicks per contest. Individually, Izzie Vaccari’s two shutouts, 0.333 goals-against average and .929 save percentage are all MAC-leading totals, and she is second with 13 total saves. Her two clean sheets rank No. 6 in the NCAA.
 
LAST TIME OUT: ROAD DEFEAT
Purdue lost a 2-1 contest at Kentucky on Thursday evening in its first road game of the year. The Boilermakers fell behind 2-0 after 14 minutes, but answered with a goal by fifth-year senior Sydney Duarte less than two minutes later to make it a 2-1 game. However, the visitors could not find the tying goal. The Wildcats held a 19-8 advantage in shots and an 8-2 edge in shots on goal.
 
Freshman forward Kayla Budish led the Boilermakers with three shots and joined Duarte with a shot on goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Sara Kile made five saves and the defense cleared another ball off the line.
 
The team has suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time since the 2020 campaign. A complete recap from the match can be found at PurdueSports.com/Soccer.
 
UP NEXT: WEEKEND IN THE SUNFLOWER STATE
A two-game roadtrip is on tap next weekend in Kansas. The week begins at Kansas on Thursday, September 1, at 8 p.m. ET in Lawrence, and concludes on Sunday at Kansas State at 2 p.m. ET in Manhattan. Following the two-game road swing, Purdue returns home to host in-state foe Notre Dame on Thursday, September 8. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. ET at Folk Field, and admission is free for all fans to every regular-season home game in 2022.
 
SPLITTORFF EARNS FIRST B1G HONOR
Freshman forward Naomi Splittorff was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Tuesday. In her first collegiate game on August 18, Splittorff scored the game-winning goal in the 44th minute to help the Boilermakers beat No. 15 USC. She played in both games last weekend and totaled 66 minutes with four shots, all on target. From Evansville, Indiana, Splittorff is the first Boilermaker to earn Freshman of the Week accolades since now-junior Nicole Kevdzija was honored twice during the 2020 season.
 
For more on the Purdue soccer team, visit PurdueSports.com/Soccer and follow and connect with the Boilermakers at @PurdueSoccer on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.