Waves Hit the Road Against Saint Mary's, Pacific
10/8/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
This Week: The No. 8 Pepperdine women's soccer team continues WCC play as it hits the road for a pair of games this week. The Waves will head to Saint Mary's for a 4 p.m. contest on Friday and then take on Pacific at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Multimedia: Fans can watch both games live on TheW.tv. Live stats for the games will also be available at smcgaels.com and pacifictigers.com. Fans can also follow @PeppSoccer on Twitter for live, in-game updates.
Last Week: The Waves picked up their 10th and 11th wins of the season last week, downing both Santa Clara and San Francisco 2-1 at home to open conference play. The Waves had to come back in the second half against Santa Clara, getting goals in the 75th and 80th minutes to secure the win. Bri Visalli scored the first goal and then assisted on Lynn Williams strike for the second in the game. Visalli struck again in the second game, scoring the game-winner in the 74th minute to break a 1-1 tie.
Saint Mary's: The Gaels come into play with a 6-6-0 overall record and 0-1-0 WCC mark, having lost three of their last four contests, including the team's WCC opener against Portland last week.
Pacific: Pacific comes in 2-9-1 overall and 0-2-0 WCC in WCC play. The Tigers lost their opening two WCC games to Portland and Gonzaga last week and are looking for their first win since Sept. 5 coming into play this week.
Waves in the Rankings: Pepperdine cracked the Top 10 in the NSCAA Coaches Poll for the first time this season, moving up three spots to No. 8 this week. The Waves also came in at No. 8 in the Soccer America rankings for the second-straight week and moved up one spot in the Top Drawer Soccer rankings to No. 10. Pepperdine held fast at No. 8 in the NCAA RPI ratings.
Program Best: The Waves' 11-1-1 record is the best in program history through 13 games, topping the 9-0-4 start the team had in 2011 and the 10-2-1 record the Waves posted in 2005. Pepperdine's current seven-game winning streak 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 1993 squad also matched the seven-game streak.
Payer of the Week: Bri Visalli picked up her first career player of the week award after recording two goals and an assist last week. 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.
WCC Stat Rankings: The Waves lead the WCC with eight goals allowed this season and have a conference-best seven shutouts. Pepperdine is also second with 22 goals scored. Williams leads the league in shots (64) and game-winning goals (5) and Hannah Seabert's 0.61 goals against average is best in the WCC. Williams' eight goals puts her second in the conference and Taylor Alvarado's three have her tied for 10th. Colby Carson is tied for third with five assists.
Ward Watch: With seven regular-season games remaining, Pepperdine head coach Tim Ward sits six 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.
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.
Balanced Attack: Pepperdine has 10 different players that have found the back of the net thus far this season. Four players have scored multiple times through the first 13 games and six players have recorded multiple assists. Six different Waves have come up with game-winning goals for Pepperdine as well.
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.
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 honor twice already. Williams was also named Top Drawer Soccer's National Player of the Week and to the College Soccer 360 National Honor Roll after netting three goals two weeks ago.
Williams All-Time Rankings: Williams has climbed her way up the Pepperdine career lists in several categories:
- · 2nd in goals scored - 33
- · 3rd in total points - 83
- · T-8th in assists - 17
- · T-10th in games started - 67
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.
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.
Alvarado on Mexico U-20 Squad: The Waves' Taylor Alvarado was named to the Mexican National U-20 Team this past summer and competed with the team at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Canada this August. Mexico went 0-1-2 in group play, with Alvarado making an appearance in the team's final game against Korea. She had previously competed for Mexico in the CONCACAF U-20 Championship and at the 2012 U-17 World Cup in Azerbaijan.
Last Season:
- · The Waves are coming off a 2013 campaign where the team finished the year 10-7-2 overall and 5-4-0 in WCC competition.
- · Pepperdine finished the season tied with San Diego for fourth in the conference standings, but owned the head-to-head tie-breaker courtesy of a 2-1 road win over the Toreros.
- · Thanks to Seabert's 114 saves last year, the Waves led the WCC in that category. Pepperdine was also third in the conference in total shots (324) and posted the fewest yellow cards (2) and fouls (128) on the year.
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.
