Soccer travels to Purdue Wednesday; Stafford calls Boilermakers MAC-like

Traveling to Purdue on Wednesday will be the last chance for the women’s soccer team to iron out any remaining kinks before they move on to their Mid-American Conference schedule.

Head coach Neil Stafford said MAC teams will play similar to Purdue, making this week’s game a preview of weeks to come.

“Purdue will play in the shape of what we would see most often in the MAC, so to have this as the last non-conference game is great,” Stafford said. “It’s great to be going against a formation we will learn something from.”

Stafford predicts strong, physical and organized play from the Boilermakers.

“I think Purdue has a solid team,” he said. “I think teams can always surprise you with set pieces, throw-ins and corner kicks.”

CMU and Purdue have identical 4-2-1 records going into Wednesday’s competition.

Purdue is led in scoring by junior midfielder Jordan Pawlik with six of the team’s 15 goals this season. She’s also recorded two assists.

Boilermaker junior goalkeeper Clara Kridler has 26 saves this season – just one more than CMU senior goalkeeper Stefanie Turner.

Both CMU and Purdue have faced West Virginia this season. The Boilermakers tied the Mountaineers 2-2, while the Chippewas defeated them earlier this season, 2-0.

Purdue often strikes first, gaining early leads this season.  They’ve scored six goals in the first 45 minutes of action, while allowing just two.

Sophomore goalkeeper Grace Labrecque said CMU needs to come out strong offensively.

“As a team, we need to offensively capitalize on opportunities to score,” Labrecque said. “If we can put together a full 90 minutes and stay sharp, we should be ok.”

Stafford said he needs the team to be clinical with goal scoring and continue possessing the ball.

Determining the best starting 11 is one question that Stafford said might be answered after the game at Purdue.

“This is another chance to have people prove themselves and show me they can play on a more consistent basis, which was something I was a little frustrated with at Texas A&M,” he said. “We will see who steps up.”