WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Penn State women’s soccer called on senior forward Amelia White to deliver a decisive score in her return to her home state, and the Fort Wayne, Indiana, native delivered with the lone tally of the night as the Nittany Lions defeated the Purdue Boilermakers by a 1-0 decision from Folk Field on Thursday.

Desperate for a return to the win column following a pair of difficult results at home last week, the Blue & White responded with an overwhelming defensive effort and opportunistic attack that helped propel PSU to an 8-5-3 record and 4-3-2 mark against Big Ten Conference competition with two opportunities remaining in league play. In defeat, Purdue dropped to 5-9-3 overall and 2-6-1 against B1G competition, with the home side set to return to action in West Lafayette against Northwestern on Sunday. In an all-time series that dates back to 1998, the Nittany Lions secured their first win since 2021 and remain unbeaten against the Boilermakers since September 26, 2003, a streak of 19 consecutive undefeated results. Penn State notched its 20th all-time win over Purdue and moves to 20-1-3 overall in the series.

The Blue & White were able to weather a relatively solid performance from the Boilermaker attack on Thursday night, with the Nittany Lions overcoming a narrow 12-9 defeat on the shot chart. Penn State was outshot by its opponent for just the fifth time this year, moving to 3-2-0 in those instances. In terms of on-target chances, however, the squads played to an even 3-3 deadlock. The Nittany Lions picked up the win in the corner kick competition for the fourth consecutive match against competitors for the Big Ten Conference while securing their seventh win in the corner battle this season to date. PSU moves to 4-2-1 overall on the year when picking up a victory in that statistic.

In a triumphant return to her home state of Indiana, White netted one of her more memorable goals as a Nittany Lion while helping steer the program to its eighth win of the 2025 campaign. White tallied her fifth goal of the season against the Boilermakers, continuing to raise the bar on her highest-scoring individual collegiate season to date. White now owns 12 points on the year split between five goals and a pair of assists, making her the third-leading scorer on Penn State’s roster this season. The fourth-year standout notched her 10th score as a college athlete and picked up her fourth collegiate match-winning score in the process, with her trio of match winners in 2025 leading the Nittany Lion roster.

Redshirt junior midfielder Molly Martin turned in another impeccable performance for the Blue & White against Purdue, with the Acton, Massachusetts, native logging an assist on White’s goal over her 77 minutes of work on the pitch. Martin continues to improve upon her single-season career best in the scoring column, logging six points in 2025 on a goal and four assists following her performance in West Lafayette. In total, a trio of Nittany Lion fielders saw all 90 minutes, with redshirt junior defender Kayleigh Herr, sophomore defender Bella Ayscue and redshirt senior midfielder Julia Raich logging that distinction.

Between the posts, redshirt junior goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress turned in a banner performance against Purdue, with the veteran shot-stopper amassing a trio of saves en route to her third individual shutout of the season. The Lyndhurst, New Jersey, native turned in a clean sheet for the first time since holding the Santa Clara Broncos scoreless over 90 minutes on August 28, 2025. Gress mustered a multi-save individual shutout for the fourth time since arriving in Happy Valley, doing so for the first time since stopping four on-target attempts against TCU in the second round of last year’s NCAA Tournament. As a team, Penn State combined for a shutout for the fourth time this season and second time in Big Ten play, with the last team-wide clean sheet coming against Maryland on September 11. For Purdue, Emily Edwards mustered a pair of saves but allowed White’s tally in the first half en route to her losing decision.

Purdue managed an early lead on the shot chart through the opening moments of Thursday’s competition, but freshman midfielder Riley Cross was able to generate the first real dangerous scoring opportunity of the night with a powerful shot from the edge of the 18-yard box in the seventh minute of action. Unfortunately, the rookie got under the ball and sailed the attempt millimeters over the crossbar to preserve the level score early. Penn State appeared to find the back of the net in the 17th minute of play, but an offsides call from the officiating crew waved the Nittany Lion tally off the board. Play continued quietly over the next few minutes, but a long-distance on-target challenge by the Boilermakers provided Gress with a test in the 25th minute of play that she passed with flying colors.

Action remained quiet until the Blue & White were able to find the breakout score in the 32nd minute. Play concentrated down the right side of the pitch for the Nittany Lions, with the ball ultimately landing on Martin’s foot for a brief moment. The savvy holding midfielder flicked a decent ball forward to White, who began a threatening run down the right side toward the Boilermaker box. White eluded the entire Purdue back line and created a razor-sharp edge at the far corner of the Boilermaker six-yard box, generating enough space to pummel a right-footed ball past the keeper into the back left corner of the net for the lid-lifting score. Purdue responded well to the deficit, netting the first corner kick of the match less than three minutes after the PSU score, but the squads ultimately returned to the locker room at halftime with the Nittany Lions ahead by one.

White looked keen on extending the Nittany Lion lead out of the halftime break, as the Fort Wayne native booked her third try of the evening to get things started in the 47th minute. White would go on to publish a pair of shot attempts in the second half, finishing with four while graduate forward Kaitlyn MacBean finished with a pair of tries in the second half of action to round out the Penn Staters with multiple shots on the evening. Purdue was able to put up a pair of on-target attempts against Gress in the 73rd and 84th minutes, respectively, but the veteran Nittany Lion corralled both attempts to keep the board clean. Despite multiple late advances by the home team, Penn State was able to roll out of Folk Field with a 1-0 victory.

SCORING SUMMARY

32′ – Play concentrated down the right side of the pitch for the Nittany Lions, with the ball ultimately landing on Martin’s foot for a brief moment. The savvy holding midfielder flicked a decent ball forward to White, who began a threatening run down the right side toward the Boilermaker box. White eluded the entire Purdue back line and created a razor-sharp edge at the far corner of the Boilermaker six-yard box, generating enough space to pummel a right-footed ball past the keeper into the back left corner of the net for the lid-lifting score. PSU 1, PUR 0

UP NEXT

Penn State women’s soccer prepares for its final regular season road match of the 2025 season on Sunday, October 19, as the Nittany Lions visit the Indiana Hoosiers. Kickoff from Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m. (ET), with streaming available to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app.