WCC & Big Ten to Clash at Pepperdine
9/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Week 3 Game Notes – September 1-7, 2008 (Pepperdine Nike Challenge Weekend)
Friday, September 5
Match #1 at 1 p.m. – San Diego (1-2, 0-0 WCC) vs. Northwestern (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten)
Match #2 at 3:30 p.m. – Pepperdine (0-2-1, 0-0 WCC) vs. Iowa (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten)
Sunday, September 7
Match #1 at 10:30 a.m – San Diego (1-2, 0-0 WCC) vs. Iowa (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten)
Match #2 at 1 p.m. – Pepperdine (0-2-1, 0-0 WCC) vs. Northwestern (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten)
THE PEPPERDINE NIKE CHALLENGE: Pits the Waves and the San Diego Toreros of the West Coast Conference against Iowa and Northwestern of the Big Ten Conference in a pair of interconference doubleheaders scheduled for Friday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. ... Pepperdine last played host to a four-team challenge in 2006 when it welcomed Dayton, Ohio State and the Toreros for the Puma Classic ... the Waves went on to tie the Flyers at 2-2 and defeated the Buckeyes 1-0 on a goal from Emily Wynne.
AGAINST THE BIG TEN: Pepperdine is 2-2-2, which includes a loss to Michigan, a tie with Michigan State, a 1-1 mark vs. Ohio State and a 1-0-1 record against Wisconsin ... The Waves and Badgers meet again later this season in Madison on Friday, Sept. 19.
MINUTE MAIDS: Pepperdine’s roster has proved its durability on the field this season as six of its regular starters have 85 percent of the time or more ... this group includes Ashley Copp (257 out of 290 minutes), Emily Wynne (272), Samantha Hire (275), Haleigh Guertin (249), Kayla Stolte (290) and Myriah Stockman (290), who is the only position player to not miss a single minute ... veteran defenders Kelsey Baker and Cammie Burke played all 200 minutes last weekend despite just returning from injury.
PERFECT 10s: Seniors Amanda Rupp and Emily Wynne joined Pepperdine’s 10-goal club over the weekend ... Rupp scored her 10th career goal Sunday against UC Santa Barbara, breaking through the defense and beating the Gaucho’s goalkeeper in a one-vs.-one situation ... Wynne’s 10th career score tied Pepperdine’s match Friday with Arizona State at 1-1, tipping the ball over the line with the Sun Devil netminder out of position.
NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH: There have already been two penalty kicks attempted in the three games played at Tari Frahm Rokus field this season and both have been brushed aside by the opposing goalkeeper ... an Amanda Rupp shot against Cal State Fullerton was saved by Shannon Simpson ... Pepperdine’s Kayla Stolte stopped a Jacki Simon shot in the 10th minute, keeping the UCSB lead at one.
LAST WEEKEND: The Waves scored three goals in two matches but it wasn’t enough as they tied Arizona State at 1-1 and dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to UC Santa Barbara ... Emily Wynne scored the game-tying goal against the Sun Devils in the 76th minute ... Amanda Rupp and Ashley Copp helped Pepperdine battle back from a 2-0 deficit vs. UCSB with goals in the 49th and 66th minutes, but Jacqui Simon’s score with 1:16 remaining in regulation crushed the Waves’ comeback attempt.
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Pepperdine is in the midst of a seven-match homestand (0-2-1), which is its longest ever to start a season ... The Waves scheduled two previous seven-match homestands midway through the 2005 and 2007 seasons and posted respective win-loss records of 4-2-1 and 2-1-4 ... Prior to 2008, Pepperdine’s longest season-opening homestand had been four matches, which took place Aug. 31 to Sept. 17, 2001.
WAVES AT TARI FRAHM ROKUS FIELD (0-2-1): The Waves are 97-33-17 (.718) in 15 seasons of playing at Tari Frahm Rokus Field, including a 4-3-4 mark in 2007 ... Pepperdine, which has yet to post a losing record at Rokus Field in any season, has recorded two unbeaten and four one-loss campaigns on its home pitch since the program’s inception in 1993.
THE HEAD COACH: The Waves are 115-61-28 (.632) under the direction of Tim Ward, who has served as Pepperdine’s skipper since 1998 ... Under Ward, the Waves have made the NCAA Tournament in five of the last seven 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.
PEPPERDINE HISTORY: The Waves have made five NCAA Tournament appearances in their 15-year history, with all of them coming in the last seven years ... Pepperdine advanced to the Sweet 16 in both 2002 and 2005 ... The Waves also captured a share of the 2002 WCC title.
THE WAVES’ TRI-CAPTAINS: For 2008, the team captains are junior goalkeeper Kayla Stolte, senior midfielder Ashley Copp and junior forward Courtney Price ... The tri-captains were voted to their current position by their teammates just weeks before the start of the 2008 spring season ... Their leadership helped the Waves rebound from a disappointing 5-8-6 record in 2007, by guiding the club to an 8-1 mark against its exhibition opponents.
PRIZED RECRUITS: Pepperdine’s recruiting class was ranked 34th in the nation (out of 320 programs) and ninth in the West Region (out of 49 teams) by Soccer Buzz Magazine ... Head coach Tim Ward’s 2008 recruiting class includes Soccer Buzz Top 100 recruit and defender Kelsea Smith as well as Top 200 recruits forward Laura Cole and midfielder Myriah Stockman ... As a conference, the WCC ranked fourth (out of 31) in the Soccer Buzz conference team rankings behind only the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-10.
ROUGH ROAD AHEAD: Pepperdine’s schedule is a major challenge once again in 2008 as the Waves match up with five nationally ranked opponents and six NCAA Tournament participants from 2007 ... Pepperdine’s 20-match slate includes preseason #2 UCLA and #13 Tennessee in addition to WCC rivals #6 Portland, #22 Santa Clara and #25 San Diego ... The Waves’ 2008 opponents combined for an overall win-loss record of 209-144-49 in 2007, equaling an impressive .581 winning percentage.
HOMESTAND COMING TO AN END: Pepperdine completes its four-week homestand the weekend of Sept. 12 to 14 with matches scheduled against Tennessee and Washington State ... The Waves meet the Lady Vols Friday at 3 p.m. and the Cougars Sunday at 1 p.m. ... Following next Sunday’s match, Pepperdine will only play one home match – a Friday, Sept. 26 date with Idaho State – over the next month.
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 an university ID.
