Pepperdine Reaches Season's End at San Francisco
11/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
PEPPERDINE REACHES SEASON'S END AT SAN FRANCISCO
November 5, 2009
Click on the above video for head coach Tim Ward's comments on the importance of this weekend's match.
MALIBU, Calif. - A number of notable Pepperdine students from Kim 'Tootie' Fields to Chace Crawford have crafted an impressive list of film and TV credits over the years. But none of them have ever played soccer for the Waves until now.
Presenting star of (a) film, freshman striker, and the hero of Sunday's 2-1 win over Saint Mary's, Anisa Guajardo.
Way back in 2003, Guajardo and her family were living in the Dominican Republic because her father, Santiago, was serving as principal for the local American School. They all lived there among the crystal blue waters for only a short time - in addition to El Salvador, Mexico and the United States - but it quickly became the setting for one the Guajardo family's favorite stories.
Flyers were posted one morning throughout the town announcing an open movie audition for young girls, and Guajardo, an aspiring actress at the time was about 11 or 12. Santiago brought his daughter to the production offices, which were located on the top floor of a three-story building and the lone staircase was packed from top to bottom with screaming girls and their parents.
The situation immediately felt hopeless, but the determined pair trudged their way through the masses and found the office where they first needed to register before heading back downstairs to the end of the line.
But as fate would have it, their return trip was interrupted after being spotted by writer/director Juan Gerard, who was casting for his directorial debut, Dreaming of Julia.
"Right after we checked in upstairs, the director saw me and said to come into his office right now," recalled Guajardo. "I was lucky that he saw a certain something in me. I read some lines, did some acting and wasn't in there for more than five minutes."
Guajardo was cast as Lisa, a friend of the central character - a young boy who is torn between his friendship with a blonde American named Julia (portrayed by Iben Hjejle) and the strife facing his family as a result of the Cuban revolution.
The film, which is based on Gerard's childhood life in Cuba, stars Gael García Bernal (The Motorcycle Diaries) and Harvey Keitel (Reservoir Dogs, National Treasure). Following its completion, Gerard's movie made its way around to several international film festivals before landing on American video store shelves rebranded as Cuban Blood.
Guajardo has only seen the movie twice. The first time was because her mom forced everyone to watch it and the other was to settle a bet among friends. A brand new copy of the DVD can be purchased through Amazon.com starting at $7.99, but used copies can be scooped up at the bargain basement price of $1.13.
The movie also can be rented via Blockbuster.com. Guajardo said she received a lot of screen time as 'the little blonde girl with the mushroom hair cut' so she should be easy to find.
Several years later and back in the United States Guajardo was discovered once again. But this time around it wasn't because of her acting chops; it was for her abilities as a soccer player.
Guajardo's soccer career began overseas, competing in pick-up games with the neighborhood boys. In fact, she didn't even know what organized soccer was until she was 10-years old and can still remember the shock of being assigned a position instead of doing what she wanted to on the pitch.
"Pick-up games, for me, were the best way to learn the game, experiment and have fun all at the same time," she said. "It still is the best way to have fun."
Guajardo's transition to the American way of playing soccer wasn't entirely smooth. She couldn't make use of her left foot; to her it didn't exist, but what she lacked in technical skills she made up for in her imagination with the ball. Soon her skills began to steadily improve from continually playing and watching the game, and by the time her junior year rolled around she was one of the best players in all of Fresno, Calif.
"My confidence was low during my first two years as a high school player and I wasn't into it all," Guajardo said. "But I had a good season during my junior year (25 goals, 4 assists) and was playing in the Fresno/Porterville area when my name was brought to the attention of the U17 Mexican National Team's head coach (Leo Cuellar)."
Guajardo attended open tryouts in the area and the coaching staff was so impressed that they invited her to tryout again in Mexico, where she eventually made the team. In July of 2008, Guajardo and her teammates participated in the CONCACAF U17 Championships in Trinidad and Tobago and finished fourth.
"That team was just pure energy on and off the field," she said, "and it was great to finally speak Spanish on a daily basis. Playing for Mexico was kind of like playing collegiate soccer, but instead of representing a school - I was representing an entire country. It was an amazing feeling and nothing could beat wearing a uniform with the Mexican emblem."
Guajardo is still part of the player pool for the U20 Mexican National Team along with Pepperdine teammate Sophia Medina, but isn't completely sure when she'll be able to don the green, white and red once again.
"Every so often I'll receive something in the mail letting me know where the dates are to play," she said. "I won't be able to play for them for awhile, but I'd love to go back there to play for them."
Match Preview: The all-time series between Pepperdine and San Francisco is tied at 8-8 heading into Saturday's 1 p.m. match at Negoesco Stadium. The Waves have won the previous two meetings in 2007 and 2008 following a three-year series losing streak.
The Dons are 7-6-5 on the year and 1-5 within the West Coast Conference. They are also 5-3-1 at home. USF jumped out to a 4-1 start, which was inexplicably followed by five consecutive overtime ties in non-conference play.
San Francisco won its first WCC game, a 2-1 overtime decision over Saint Mary's, before losing its next five in which it's been outscored 17-3.
The Dons' offense has received one goal from at least 11 different players and 13 of them have totaled at least one point. Kristina Hall leads her club with nine points, scoring four goals on just 23 shots.
USF goalkeeper Kelly Pohle has pitched five shutouts en route to her 7-6-5 win-loss record. She also has made 65 saves and owns a 1.20 goals-against average.
Pepperdine won it last two games to finish its home season at 8-2-1, but are 2-5 away from Tari Frahm Rokus Field this year, including 0-2 in conference play. Additionally, the Waves have not won at Negoesco Stadium since 2003.
In their two conference victories this season, the Waves have come from behind late after being down 1-0. Against Gonzaga, Pepperdine scored twice within the last ten minutes on goals from sophomore Michelle Spacciapolli (San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic HS) and senior Sophia Medina (Downey, Calif./Los Alamitos HS). Then, this past Sunday against Saint Mary's, Guajardo scored the game-tying goal 54 seconds into the second half and the notched the game winner about 12 minutes later.
Thursday's 1-0 win over Seattle was freshman goalkeeper Roxanne Barker's (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS) eighth of the season, which is the third highest individual season total in program history. Medina scored the game-winner in this contest with an assist from sophomore Laura Cole (Whittier, Calif./La Habra HS).
