No. 3 Ohio State held off No. 20 Purdue 2-1 on the road Sunday, leaning on a freshman goalkeeper making the first start of her career to stay on top of the Big Ten. The Buckeyes improved to 12-1-1 overall and 8-1-0 in conference play with the scrappy win over the Boilermakers.
Lizzie Rozmajzl was the star of the game. The freshman had played only 13 minutes all season before Sunday, but she was thrown into the starting role in goal and answered immediately, making a sharp save in the third minute after a battle for the ball right in front of her net.
Ohio State opened the scoring in the seventh minute. Andrea Lu sent a free kick to the right side, Ava Bramblett delivered it into the box, and senior defender Nette-Nina Hiltunen headed it home for just the second goal of her career, giving the Buckeyes an early 1-0 lead.
Purdue answered in the 20th minute, when star forward Jaiden Anderson tied the game at 1-1. Possession was nearly even through the first half, with Ohio State holding a narrow eight-to-seven edge in shots as the teams went to the break level.
The Buckeyes retook the lead three minutes into the second half. Britt struck a long shot from the edge of the box off a pass from Schlueter in the 48th minute — the second-fastest second-half goal of the season for Ohio State — putting the Buckeyes back in front 2-1.
The game’s decisive moment came in the 71st minute. Purdue was awarded a penalty kick after Hiltunen got tangled with Anderson in the box, and Anderson stepped up with a chance to tie the game again. She drove her shot toward the low right corner, but Rozmajzl read it and turned it away, preserving the lead in the biggest moment of her young career.
From there, the Buckeye defense absorbed heavy pressure, facing 14 Purdue shots in the second half, and stayed calm and disciplined to close out the win. Rozmajzl finished with seven saves in her first collegiate start. Ohio State now returns home for two games next week at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus, hosting Rutgers on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Illinois on Sunday at noon, with both matches streamed on B1G+.