When rivals meet, regardless of sport, there are things that are always on the line. Bragging rights, recruiting impacts, trophies and pride. On Friday night, Indiana women’s soccer traveled to Folk Field in West Lafayette, Indiana, to take on its rival, the Purdue Boilermakers.
The match went as expected. Back-and-forth, shot-for-shot and down to the wire. The teams battled the full 90 minutes without the most important result in soccer, a goal. The 0-0 tie marked the third consecutive tie for the Hoosiers and helped them retain the “Golden Boot Trophy” for the third straight year.
The trophy has been passed between the competing teams since 2002, but talks of creating it began in 1998, according to Purdue University Athletics.
It wasn’t officially introduced until former Purdue assistant coach Ian Rickerby joined Indiana head coach Mick Lyon’s staff in 2002. Former Purdue head coach Rob Klatte convinced Lyon that a traveling rivalry trophy could increase the importance of every meeting between the in-state rivals.
Even though the trophy was created at the start of the 2002 season, the first letter on the chain is an “I” from Indiana’s win in 1999, the inaugural meeting between the two squads. The chain of letters, signaling either an Indiana or Purdue win, signifies results from every time the teams have competed.
Until 2023, the chain was dominated with the letter “P” throughout. Purdue held a 14-4-6 regular season record against Indiana heading into the 2023 matchup, while holding the trophy for eight straight seasons from 2015-22. The match in 2023 snapped the streak. With a 1-0 victory over the Boilermakers, the Hoosiers finally brought the trophy back to Bloomington.
After tying 0-0 in 2024, the Hoosiers entered Friday’s match with hopes of retaining the trophy for a third year in a row. Indiana had momentum, drawing with both Washington and Oregon on their home pitch at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
The recent results of a draw carried over to Friday. The two teams combined for just five shots in the first half, a half that was driven by strong defensive plays on each side of the field. The second half put a lot more pressure on the goalkeepers for each respective side.
With 18 combined shots in the second 45 minutes, the two experienced keepers left their mark on the match. Junior goalkeeper Emily Edwards was able to keep Indiana off the scoreboard with her save on freshman defender Grace Hamm’s shot in the 68th minute.
Graduate keeper Sally Rainey was a bit more active than her rival counterpart, tallying four second half saves. With two saves in the final 10 minutes, Rainey claimed a clean sheet and helped the Hoosiers hold on for a scoreless tie.
After tying each of the last three outings, the Hoosiers now sit at 3-4-5 with five matches left in the regular season. Indiana sits tied for 13th place in the conference and three points out of the 10th place spot, the spot needed to make this season’s Big Ten Tournament.
The Hoosiers will now return home to host Northwestern at Bill Armstrong Stadium. Home field has been kind to Indiana this year, as the Hoosiers are unbeaten this season with a 3-0-3 record.
Northwestern entered the weekend with a 4-2-6 record, but have been without a win since Sept. 4. The Wildcats host Nebraska on Sunday.
The kickoff between the Wildcats and Hoosiers is at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington and will be streamed on Big Ten+.
Follow reporters Noah Gerkey (@Noah_Gerk and ngerkey@iu.edu) and Will Kwiatkowski (@WKwiatkowski_15 and wdkwiatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana women's soccer season.
