No. 7 Waves to Host San Diego This Week
10/14/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
This Week: The No. 7 Pepperdine women's soccer team continues WCC play as it hosts San Diego on Saturday at 3 p.m. for its lone match of the week.
Multimedia: Fans can watch Saturday's game live on WaveCasts. Live stats for the game will also be available at pepperdinesports.com. Fans can also follow @PeppSoccer on Twitter for live, in-game updates.
Promotions: The first 300 fans at Saturday's game will get a free Chick-fil-a sandwich. There will also be a post-game autograph session with the team.
San Diego: The Toreros come into play with a 5-6-2 record overall and 1-2-0 mark in WCC play. USD opened conference play with a pair of losses, but bounced back last week with a 3-0 win over Portland. The Toreros have won four of their last six games, including victories over San Diego State and Oklahoma. USD also picked up a 5-0 win over No. 24 Michigan early in the season.
Last Week: The Waves hit the road last week for the first time since conference play opened, picking up a win and a tie in Northern California. Pepperdine opened the week by playing to a scoreless draw with Saint Mary's, despite outshooting the Gaels 8-2 in the shots on goal department. The Waves took out their offensive frustrations on Pacific the next time out, downing the Tigers 5-0. Pepperdine scored four goals in the last 15 minutes of play in the contest.
Waves in the Rankings: The Waves currently sit at No. 7 in the NSCAA Coaches Poll. Pepperdine cracked the Top 10 in the poll for the first time this season two weeks ago, moving up to No. 8. The Waves also came in at No. 8 in the Top Drawer Soccer rankings and No. 9 in the Soccer America ratings. Pepperdine sits at No. 14 in the NCAA RPI ratings.
Program Best: The Waves' 12-1-2 record is tied for the best in program history through 15 games matching the 12-1-2 start the 2002 squad has. Pepperdine has not lost since Sept. 7 against No. 1 UCLA and the team's seven-game winning streak earlier this year is tied for the second longest in program history and is the best since 2003 when the team also won seven-straight. Both the 2000 and 2002 teams won eight straight to set the program record. The 2002 team finished the year 18-2-2, made a run to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament and achieved the highest final-season ranking in program history at No. 5 in the country.
12-Win Season: The Waves last victory gave the team its 10th 12-win season in program history. Since 2001, the Waves have had six 12-win seasons and in each one the team has made the NCAA Tournament. The 2002 team set the program record with 18 wins.
Holtz's Helpers: Ally Holtz tied a program record with three assists in the Waves' 5-0 win over Pacific last Sunday. The senior midfielder set up Pepperdine's first goal of the day by sending a pass across the face of the goal to Taylor Alvarado. Late in the second half Holtz combined on a give-and-go to set up the team's third goal and then found Williams for the fourth.
Balanced Attack: Pepperdine has 11 different players that have found the back of the net thus far this season. Six players have scored multiple times through 15 games and six players have recorded multiple assists. Six different Waves have come up with game-winning goals for Pepperdine as well.
National Stat Rankings: The Waves .867 winning percentage is seventh in the NCAA and they are currently 12th in the nation with a 0.516 goals against average. Williams' five game-winning goals ranks fifth in the country and Seabert's 0.522 goals against average is 17th.
WCC Stat Rankings: The Waves lead the WCC with eight goals allowed this and have a WCC-best nine shutouts. The Waves are second with 27 goals scored. Williams leads the league in shots (75) and game-winning goals (5) and Hannah Seabert's 0.522 goals against average is best in the WCC. Williams' 10 goals put her second in the conference and Taylor Alvarado's four have her tied for 8th. Colby Carson is tied for fifth with five assists.
Williams' Awards: Lynn Williams has picked up both national and local recognition for her play this season, taking home the WCC Player of the Week honors twice already. Williams was also named Top Drawer Soccer's National Player of the Week and to the College Soccer 360 National Honor Roll earlier this year.
Williams All-Time Rankings: Lynn Williams has climbed her way up the Pepperdine career lists in several categories:
- · 2nd in goals scored - 35
- · 2nd in total points - 87
- · T-8th in assists - 17
- · 10th in games started - 68
MAC Hermann Watch List: The Waves' Williams was one of 63 players named to the preseason MAC Hermann Award Watch List this season. The MAC Hermann Trophy is the most prestigious individual award in NCAA soccer presented annually to one male and one female athlete. The winners will be announced Friday, Jan. 9, 2015, at the trophy presentation banquet at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.
Ward Watch: With five regular-season games remaining, Pepperdine head coach Tim Ward sits five wins from 200 in his career. Ward is in his 17th season with the Waves after taking over as the Pepperdine head coach in 1998. His team posted a program-best 18 wins in 2002 and has recorded double digit win totals in 12 of his 17 seasons.
Non-Conference Tests: The Waves have excelled through a tough non-conference schedule, finishing non-conference play 9-1-1. Pepperdine has wins over teams from the ACC (North Carolina), Pac 12 (USC), Big 10 (Maryland) and SEC (Kentucky) so far this year. The Waves have beaten two teams currently at least receiving votes the NSCAA Top 25, downing No. 7 North Carolina 1-0 and USC (RV) 2-1. Pepperdine's only loss came at the hands of No. 1 UCLA and the team's only tie came in a scoreless game against No. 21 Washington State.
Scoreless Streak: The Waves had a streak of 397 scoreless minutes broken against UCLA earlier this season. Pepperdine had not allowed a goal since their season opener before playing the Bruins. The Waves currently have a 133 minute scoreless streak going.
Conquering Carolina: The Waves picked up one of the biggest wins in program history earlier this year, taking down 21-time NCAA Champions North Carolina. The Waves got a 71st minute goal from Williams and then held on to the clean sheet to seal a 1-0 victory over the then ninth-ranked Tar Heels.
Kentucky Thriller: The Waves scored a thrilling 3-2 win at Kentucky this year, getting the winning goal two minutes into OT from Lynn Williams. It was Williams' second goal of the game as she previously gave Pepperdine the lead in the 82nd minute. The Wildcats tied the game up with a goal just 32 seconds before the final whistle, but the Waves regrouped to win in overtime.
Player of the Week: Bri Visalli picked up her first career player of the week award after recording two goals and an assist two weeks ago. Visalli scored the game-winner against USF and scored the equalizer and assisted on the winner against Santa Clara. They were the first collegiate scores for the freshman.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE: Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won NCAA Division I championships in five different men's sports -- one of just 17 schools to have accomplished this feat -- and nine overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment, is the only school without football and is the only university that has not been affiliated with a "major" conference. The Waves have won a total of 23 team or individual national championships in their history. Pepperdine has also earned the Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy, an award based on postseason success that's given to the top non-football school, three times (most recently in 2011-12). Located in scenic Malibu, Calif., the university overlooks the Pacific Ocean and its campus and athletic facilities are regularly voted among the nation's most beautiful. Pepperdine, which is affiliated with the Church of Christ, ranks #54 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
