They say the toughest moments are the best learning moments.
Ball State (1-1) lost 5-1 at the hands of Purdue (2-0-2) in West Lafayette.
“I think the most frustrating part is that we played so well,” Head Coach Josh Rife said. “We didn’t respond well to their pressure, and that’s how a 2-1 game turns into a 3-1, 4-1 game really quickly.”
The Boilermakers got three of their goals thanks to Redshirt Senior Forward Sarah Griffith’s hat trick, scoring in the sixth, 50th, and 58th minutes.
Freshman Midfielder Abigail Roy scored Purdue’s second goal in the 34th minute, while Senior Forward Sydney Duarte got the fifth and final goal in the 68th minute.
The Cardinals' lone goal came off of a shot from graduate midfielder Melissa Diceman in the 24th minute. Diceman sprinted down the right side of the field towards the box, received a great pass from Senior Midfielder Sammi Corcoran, absorbed a hit from a Purdue defender and snuck the ball right past the goalkeeper.
“I didn’t think I made it,” Diceman said. “It looked ugly coming off toward the corner. It's always fun scoring, but it's also fun scoring when you're playing against a pretty good team.”
Purdue dominated the shot column, with 19 shots and nine shots on goal to Ball State’s 11 shots and six shots on goal. The Boilermakers did commit 15 fouls to the Cardinals six, but none resulted in Ball State goals.
Facing a Big Ten school is a tough task for any mid-major school, but Coach Rife is proud of how the girls kept fighting.
“It’s just how it goes sometimes,” Rife said. “Hopefully we can learn a lesson from what happened today. We did a lot of good things. In the first half, we deserved to be in the game. We can look back and say that that’s a great opportunity. We can't take our foot off the pedal for one moment. We have to make sure that we're playing at our best.”
The Cardinals are to face Cincinnati at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 2.
Contact Nate Grubb with comments at nathaniel.grubb@bsu.edu or on Twitter @GrubbNate43.
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