IU (3-9-6, 0-6-4) has been in a tailspin for much of its season. Its struggles continued with a 3-1 loss at Michigan State on Sunday. But the IU-Purdue grudge match is not just another soccer game.
“It is a ton of emotion,” IU Coach Amy Berbary said. “Their fans are crazy and right above you, and it’s an awesome atmosphere to be in. I’m just glad to be playing on our home field against them.”
In the non-conference part of its schedule, IU started the season by posting a 3-3-2 mark. However, in Big Ten play, its record plummeted to an 0-6-4 record going into Wednesday. The Hoosiers will be looking to earn their first conference win against the Boilermakers.
Purdue (8-8-1, 3-6-1) is coming off a 1-0 overtime loss at Michigan and is 2-4 in away matches. The IU seniors have never lost to Purdue in their collegiate careers and will try to keep their emotions in check and focus despite the emotional toll of playing their last game, Berbary said.
“I never like senior night to begin with,” Berbary said. “We’re going to have the celebration in the middle of our warm up, hopefully get back and focus and try to finish out our season.”
IU will not only look for a win against its arch rival, but it will look to send five seniors out with a win.
“It’s just gone by so fast.” Berbary said. “I came in and those guys were in their second semester of their freshman year, so it’s been pretty amazing to see them grow up, and they have turned into some great women and done such a great job for us.”
The Hoosier seniors said they can take solace in what they have accomplished on the field and more.
“It’s pretty bittersweet,” IU senior midfielder Kailee Feinstein said. “It feels great to know that I have grown up as a player and as a person in these past four years, so I’m ending on definitely a high note.”
One IU senior, goalkeeper Sarah Stone, has kept IU in games. She has posted six shutouts in 2015. Despite the lack of scoring this season, Stone’s performances in goal have kept her team in games.
Entering Wednesday’s game, IU senior midfielder Jessie Bujouves has 12 goals and seven assists in her career.
Bujouves, IU’s leading scorer in 2015, has registered four goals this season, including IU’s lone goal against Michigan St. on Wednesday. The senior midfielder will look to continue her attacking mentality in her final game as a Hoosier.
IU had a captain who played every minute for the Hoosiers in 2015. Senior defender Emily Basten found the field in her first and last year on campus after transferring from Central Michigan. Basten has led the defense despite adjusting to a new program in one season. On defense, she has played long minutes for the Hoosiers and was an integral part of six shutouts this season.
“She has been such an impact to this program in more ways than I could ever express or she’ll ever know,” Berbary said. “I know the season didn’t pan out as we thought, but I couldn’t imagine the season without her.”
