Women's Soccer Hosts #3 Portland
10/31/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
UPCOMING — The Pepperdine women’s soccer team (5-6-6 overall, 2-2-1 WCC, fourth place) says goodbye to its seniors in the 2007 home finale on Sunday afternoon. The Waves take on West Coast Conference leader and third-ranked Portland. Just one game remains on the schedule after this weekend.
MATCH #18 — Sunday (Nov. 4) at Tari Frahm Rokus Field: Pepperdine vs. #3 Portland (13-3-0, 5-0-0, first place) at 1 p.m.
TICKETS — Single-match tickets to all home women’s soccer games are $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors and free to all Pepperdine students and faculty with a university ID.
OPPONENT INFO — The Waves are 2-10-1 all-time against the Pilots, and 1-4-1 in Malibu. Portland won 3-1 last year while the schools played to a 1-1 tie in 2005, the last meeting in Malibu. Pepperdine’s only home win in the series came in 1997 ... Portland is ranked #3 by Soccer America, Soccer Buzz and the NSCAA and #4 by Soccer Times and Top Drawer Soccer ... The Pilots can clinch the WCC title with a victory on Sunday.
LAST WEEK — The Waves put together their best week of the season, dominating San Francisco 2-0 and Saint Mary’s 5-1 at home. It’s the first time all season Pepperdine has won back-to-back games. Joanna Idom scored a goal in both games, Ashley Copp had an assist in both games and Sage Coralli had a goal and an assist against the Gaels. The Waves outshot the Dons 14-6 and the Gaels 27-6.
TOUGH SCHEDULE — Pepperdine’s record can be explained partly by the fact that the Waves have played one of the most difficult schedules in the country. The win-loss total of Pepperdine’s 17 opponents thus far is 151-88-52 (.608) according to the NSCAA scoreboard. And, according to www.soccerratings.com, at one point this season Pepperdine had the highest-rated strength of schedule in the country. The site also ranked Pepperdine at #48 nationally last week despite having only three wins (no one else in the top 70 had fewer than six wins).
CLOSE CALLS — What might Pepperdine’s record be if they had just scored one more goal here or one more goal there? Five of Pepperdine’s six losses have been by one goal. Also, six ties sets a new school record, surpassing the four that were recorded in 1998.
YOUTH — The nucleus of Pepperdine’s team will be together for two straight years, as the 2007 Waves have only three seniors, two of whom are in their final year of eligibility. The breakdown is as follows: three seniors, eight juniors, six sophomores and seven freshmen.
WCC STATS — Pepperdine is fourth in the conference in goals-against average (0.93) and tied for fifth in goals scored (1.29) ... Kayla Stolte is fifth in goals-against average (0.88) and tied for sixth in saves (3.5 per game) ... Amanda Rupp is tied for fifth in assists (five) and tied for ninth in goals (five) and points (15) ... Emily Wynne is fifth in shots per game (2.6).
TIM WARD — Now in his 10th year as head coach of the Waves, Tim Ward has developed Pepperdine to where it is on the verge of being a national power. The Waves have made the NCAA Tournament in five of the last six years. Ward has been with Pepperdine from nearly the beginning, as the program was established in 1993 and he became an assistant coach in 1994 before being elevated to the head position in 1998.
GOOD WORK — One of the team’s goals is to be the most socially conscious program in the country, so most Pepperdine women’s soccer players weren’t wasting away the summer at the beach. Among the interesting accomplishments from summer 2007: senior midfielder McKenzie Hill, junior midfielder Jenna Shay and junior forward Emily Wynne spent three weeks in Uganda, Africa, putting on soccer clinics and volunteering at a medical clinic in a rural village ... Freshman defender Cammie Burke did a month of community service in Fiji ... Junior defender Ashley Copp studied vertebrate biology in Argentina ... Junior forward Amanda Rupp studied in Florence, Italy ... Junior midfielder Samantha Hire and junior defender Michaela Carrera went on a mission trip to Honduras.
WCC PRESEASON POLL — The Waves were picked to finish third in the West Coast Conference in 2007 in a preseason vote of the coaches. Only long-time powers Portland and Santa Clara ranked ahead of Pepperdine. Following the Waves in the voting were San Diego, Loyola Marymount, Gonzaga, San Francisco and Saint Mary’s.
PEPPERDINE HISTORY — The Waves have made five NCAA Tournament appearances in their 14-year history, with all of them coming in the last six years. Pepperdine advanced to the Sweet 16 in both 2002 and 2005. The Waves also captured a share of the 2002 WCC title.
2006 RECAP — The Waves fell on the bubble heading into the 2006 postseason and unfortunately were not awarded an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament despite an 11-6-3 record and a third-place finish in the WCC at 4-2-1. Lindsey Redlin and Emily Wynne each tied a school record with 10 assists and made the All-WCC first team and second team, respectively. Kelsey Baker was also on the second team and Jen Brewer and Sophia Medina were honorable mention. Medina and Courtney Price made the WCC All-Freshman team.
TARI FRAHM ROKUS FIELD — Located on the campus of Pepperdine University, Tari Frahm Rokus Field might just be the most beautiful soccer facility in the nation with its view of the Pacific Ocean. It has been the Waves’ home field since the program was established in 1993. The Waves have won more than 70 percent of their home games at Rokus Field, which is surrounded by the Stotsenberg Track.
UP NEXT — The Waves’ 2007 season comes to an end on Saturday (Nov. 10) at Gonzaga.
