Women's Soccer Season in Review
12/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Dec. 27, 2010
Pepperdine Women's Soccer Notes 
MALIBU, Calif. -- The Pepperdine women's soccer team finished with its 13th winning record in 18 seasons of competition, and may have narrowly missed out an NCAA Tournament bid. Though the Waves' record was just 9-6-5 and they finished in a tie for fifth place in the West Coast Conference at 2-3-2, Pepperdine's body of work was apparently enough to earn consideration for one of the final at-large berths. The Waves' final record has been at .500 or better in 11 of the last 12 years.
VS. THE NCAA TOURNAMENT -- Pepperdine posted an impressive 3-3-2 record against teams that went on to the NCAA Tournament. Their most notable wins of the year came against then-#11 UCLA on the road and in the season finale at home against then-#14 Santa Clara. The Waves also beat Fresno State, which would go on to win the WAC Tournament. The Waves also posted ties against UC Irvine and then-#21 Arizona State, while the three losses came against Michigan, then-#2 Portland and San Diego.
VS. RANKED TEAMS -- The Waves had an exceptional record playing teams that were nationally ranked, going 2-1-1 in four such games.
LOOKING TOWARD 2011 -- Of Pepperdine's 22 letterwinners, only three were seniors. If everyone returns, next year's roster will have back 10 of 11 starters and a makeup of four seniors, eight juniors and seven sophomores (plus two other players that saw no action in 2010). Returning players could account for 25 of 26 goals (96%), 16 of 19 assists (84%) and 66 of 71 points (93%). Plus, the entire defense that started the bulk of the season returns.
PAO -- Michelle Pao became Pepperdine's first freshman to make the All-WCC first team since 1996, and only the second to do so in school history. She also earned a place on the WCC All-Freshman team and was picked to the NSCAA All-West Region second team.
MORE ALL-WCC -- Five other Waves earned All-WCC honorable mention notice: Roxanne Barker, Laura Cole, Kristin DeGrandmont, Gunny Jonsdottir and Kelsea Smith. It was the second WCC postseason honor for Barker, Cole and Smith. Barker made the second team in 2009 while Cole and Smith were honorable mention in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
WCC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK/MONTH -- The Waves had two WCC Player of the Week honorees for the first time since the 2006 season. Callie Payetta earned the award on Nov. 8 after a two-goal, one-assist effort in the Waves' 3-2 victory over then-#14 Santa Clara. Michelle Manning got it on Oct. 4 after recording the game-winning goal in Pepperdine's upset win at then-#11 win at UCLA. Both were also named to CollegeSoccer360.com's Primetime Performers of the Week list. Payetta went on to be named the WCC's co-Player of the Month for November for her single-game effort.
MORE 2010 HONORS -- Anisa Guajardo was named the Player of the Week by L.A. Soccer News on Sept. 7 (which includes all area college and pro teams, men and women) following a two-goal, two-assist weekend vs. Cal State Northridge and Detroit ... Gunny Jonsdottir, Michelle Manning and Michelle Spacciapolli made the all-tournament team in San Diego ... Spacciapolli, Katie Gallanes, Michelle Pao and Ana Pontes made the all-tournament team in Hawaii.
ACADEMIC HONORS -- Pepperdine earned an NSCAA Women's Team Academic Award for having a team grade-point average above a 3.0.
LEADERS -- Laura Cole had team highs of seven goals, three assists, 17 points and four game-winning goals ... Rebecca Klamser and Gunny Jonsdottir also recorded three assists ... Anisa Guajardo attempted the most shots (47) ... Roxanne Barker, Kelsea Smith and Kristin DeGrandmont were the only players to start all 20 games ... Barker had a 0.72 goals-against average, 80 saves and a .842 save percentage.
INDIVIDUAL SEASON RECORDS WATCH -- Laura Cole had four game-winning goals, tied for fourth at Pepperdine and just one shy of the school record ... Roxanne Barker had a goals-against average of 0.72, the third-best mark in school history ... Barker's .842 save percentage is tied for #4, her seven shutouts are tied for #5 and her 80 saves are #6 on the various lists.
INDIVIDUAL CAREER RECORDS WATCH -- Roxanne Barker is #2 in goals-against average (0.88), tied for #2 in shutouts (15), #4 in wins (20), #4 in save percentage (.804), #7 in saves (144), #7 in saves per game (3.69) ... Laura Cole's six game-winning goals are tied for #10 in school history and her 125 shots also rank #10.
TEAM SEASON RECORDS WATCH -- Pepperdine's team figures for goals-against average (0.76) is #3, save percentage (.838) is #4 and shutouts (eight) are tied for #5.
WCC STATS -- Among the conference's teams, Pepperdine finished third in goals-against average (0.76), fourth in shots per game (12.75) and fifth in goals per game (1.30) ... The Waves committed the fewest yellow cards in the league (four) ... Roxanne Barker was third in save percentage (.842), third in shutouts (seven), fourth in goals-against average (0.72) and sixth in saves per game (4.00) ... Laura Cole was fourth in game-winning goals (four), tied for sixth in goals (seven), tied for eighth in points (17) and tied for ninth in shots (42) ... Anisa Guajardo was seventh in shots (47) and 10th in goals (six) ... Michelle Spacciapolli was fifth in shots per game (2.43).
2010 NOTES -- All six of Pepperdine's losses were by one goal ... The Waves went 6-0-3 at home, the third time in school history Pepperdine has been unbeaten at Tari Frahm Rokus Field ... Pepperdine's 1-0 win at then-#11 UCLA snapped the Bruins' national-best 73-match home unbeaten streak and was the Waves' first win over the Bruins since 1993 (0-12-1 since) ... Pepperdine went 2-1-1 against the Pac-10 ... Pepperdine and rival LMU went to overtime for the sixth time in the last seven years, and it ended in a tie for the third time in the last five seasons ... Pepperdine won on opening day (8/20 vs. Fresno State) for the second year in a row and the sixth time in the last eight years ... Pepperdine's four-goal output vs. Arizona (8/29) was the first time the Waves scored more than two goals since the end of the 2008 season ... Pepperdine had four different goal-scorers vs. Arizona (and again against Detroit), the first time that had happened since midway through the 2008 season ... Pepperdine won its first eight games when the Waves scored a goal in the first half (and won nine of the 10 overall) ... Pepperdine matched 2009's season total of 18 goals in its 12th game (UCLA) and surpassed it in the 13th (CSU Bakersfield) ... The Waves had a shutout streak of 447 minutes between Sept. 18 and Oct. 3, and their four consecutive shutouts were their most since early in the 2004 season.
WARD -- Part of the program from nearly the beginning, Tim Ward finished his 13th season as the Waves' head coach. He now has a 144-81-35 (.621) record with eight seasons of double-digit victories. His teams have posted 10 winning seasons and garnered five NCAA Tournament berths, including the Sweet 16 in 2002 and 2005. Ward has been with the women's soccer program for 17 of its 18 seasons, as he was an assistant coach from 1994-97 before being elevated to head coach.
WOMEN'S SOCCER HISTORY -- One of Pepperdine's youngest programs (it was established in 1993), the women's soccer team has also been one of its most successful over the last decade with five NCAA Tournament appearances, including Sweet Sixteen berths in 2002 and 2005. The Waves have posted winning seasons in 13 of their 18 seasons, including 11 years with double-digit victories.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE -- Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won a total of nine NCAA championships in five different men's sports -- one of just 14 schools to have accomplished this feat. Of the 14, Pepperdine is the only non-BCS school and has by far the smallest enrollment. The majority of Pepperdine's teams are ranked nationally year after year and compete for conference and national titles.
