WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (www.purduesports.com) – Purdue women’s soccer put forth another strong effort defensively, but No. 8 Penn State scored the only goal of the night in the 59th minute to take the Big Ten opener for both teams, 1-0, Friday evening at the Boilermaker Soccer Complex.

Purdue (4-2-1, 0-1-0 Big Ten) has still not surrendered more than one goal in any of its seven games this year. Friday marked the first time the Boilers had limited the 15-time Big Ten champion Nittany Lions (5-1, 1-0 Big Ten) to a single goal since also losing 1-0 in 2007. Freshman goalkeeper Erika Yohn made eight saves, the most by a Purdue ‘keeper since Yana Lyon made nine in the 2012 season finale against PSU.

The Boilermakers’ five-game unbeaten streak came to an end after Raquel Rodriguez scored her second goal of the season in the 59th minute with a shot inside the left post from the inside edge of the 18-yard box just to the right of center. Rodriguez led all players with six shots Friday.

Purdue was unable to capitalize on three quality scoring opportunities in the second half. Moments after Rodriguez scored, Maddy Williams missed wide right from point blank at the right post after a left-to-cross was played from the endline through the six-yard box.

In the 68th minute, Nikki Hively connected a pass from the left endline to an unmarked Vanessa Korolas at the top of the 18-yard box. The freshman got off a clean shot with pace but missed just high over the crossbar.

Later in the 77th minute, Erika Arkans got a clean header chance off Purdue’s third and final corner kick opportunity of the night. Andrea Petrina served in a nice ball from the northwest corner, but Arkans also missed high. Early in the game (11th minute), Petrina’s free kick from the west side found the head of Mollie Kuramoto in the 18-yard box for the game’s first shot, but it sailed wide left.

Soraya Toppin-Herbert forced PSU goalkeeper Britt Eckerstrom to make a punch save on a rising blast in the 64th minute. Toppin-Herbert got the shot off of on the move as she came to the top of the 18-yard box on the left flank, but Eckerstrom got her hand on the ball to deflect it over the crossbar.

Yohn made five of her eight saves in the second half, many coming on ground shots by Penn State. The freshman’s diving save to her left at the right post in the 70th minute was her best stop of the night. Yohn also made two saves 11 seconds apart in the 56th minute.

Mikayla Lasky, Kim Love and Kuramoto went the distance among the Purdue field players. Nicole Robertson logged 50 minutes to lead the reserves.

The Boilermakers return to action Sunday when they host Ohio State at 3 p.m. The game will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.

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