NCAA bid hangs on senior day match
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 11/06/2009
sponsored by
The match on senior day for the Purdue women’s soccer team will need to garner a win in order to help guarantee an NCAA tournament bid.
The Boilers (11-5-3, 4-3-2) are hosting the Iowa Hawkeyes (9-10-0, 1-8-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Varsity Soccer Complex for senior Jessica Okoroafo’s final senior day.
“It’s crazy that it’s here actually,” Okoroafo said. “But it’s just like the idea that all of our families are going to be here, and we’re playing on our home field for the last time most likely. It’s really important so we want to come out strong. Everyone wants to do well on their senior day.”
Seniors Jenny Bradfisch, Loredana Riverso, Sylvia Forbes and Katie Seeger will also be honored, but to keep their season going, Okoroafo thinks they’ll have to beat the Hawkeyes.
“I think we mostly need to win this game,” Okoroafo said. “I think if we lost to them, we wouldn’t get into the NCAAs.”
One senior is in the midst of a recent comeback from injury that didn’t seem likely after the third match of the year. During the Boiler’s 3-2 win over then-No. 6 Texas A&M, Riverso, a Mississauga, Ontario native, went down with a shoulder injury that almost cost her the season.
Riverso competed in her first match back Tuesday when she played 41 minutes in the Boiler’s 2-1 double overtime win over Indiana. During last year’s postseason, Riverso was unavailable for the Boilers after being called up to play in the U-20 World Cup for Canada.
“We were just testing it out (against Indiana),” head coach Robert Klatte said. “She was able to come in and really get a foot on the ball and for the most part, I thought, do very, very well. So we’re excited about her return and hoping that she’ll be able to provide us that similar type of minutes over the next week or two.”
The Boilers are in a tie with Minnesota for fourth place in the Big Ten, while Iowa is in last with only one win. However, Klatte said the Hawkeyes are a defensive team that is hard to break down.
“We’ll have a battle on our hands. For us, we’re playing for something, that’s the NCAA tournament bid,” he said. “We’re going to do as much as we can to guarantee. Fortunately we get them at home on senior day so hopefully there will be some strong emotions and we’ll be ready to play.”