The purple sky was not an indicator of what could’ve been the ‘Cats first home win after two weeks on the road.

Despite the high hopes around Northwestern’s (4-5-2, 2-1-1 B1G) first home conference game of the season, expressed through the amount of loud purple vuvuzelas buzzing at Martin Stadium, the ‘Cats failed to take Purdue (6-4-2, 2-2-1 B1G) down after coming from two consecutive away wins against Nebraska and Iowa, finishing the match in a 0-0 draw.

The ‘Cats got off to a tough start; only three minutes in, the Boilermakers were close to scoring their first goal. After a corner kick, sophomore goalkeeper Mackenzie Wood — who was elected Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week on Tuesday — was able to save the ‘Cats by clearing a dangerous ball off the goal line. Purdue’s pressure only built up after that.

It took Northwestern over 15 minutes to blast its first shot, after which the ‘Cats seemed to gain some energy. Yet, despite an apparent recovery, which led to an even second half, NU’s efforts were not enough to dominate the Boilermakers. Purdue ended the game with over twice as many shots as Northwestern, 12–7, and while 7 of Purdue’s shots were on goal, the ‘Cats could not compete with their accuracy, ending the game with no shots on target.

With this result, Northwestern moved to 2-1-1, good for 4th in the Big Ten standings behind Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa. Overall, they stand at 4-5-2.

On Sunday, the ‘Cats face Rutgers in New Jersey.