Final Stats

Box Score

MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine women's soccer team opened WCC play with a win on Friday afternoon, defeating Pacific 1-0 thanks to a first-half penalty shot.

The Tigers were called for a hand-ball in the box in the 35th minute, setting up Kristen Rodriguez for the penalty kick goal. The win moves Pepperdine to 6-3-2, 1-0-0 WCC on the year and drops Pacific to 1-7-1, 0-1-0 WCC.

"I thought the soccer we played today was excellent, Pacific just did a good job and we couldn't break them down in the run of play," said head coach Tim Ward. "It was good to go out and start the conference season with a W and now we hope we can play like this again on Sunday, just hopefully a few more goals hit the back of the net."

The Waves dominated possession throughout the run of play, outshooting Pacific 29-1 on the day. Pepperdine put up 12 of those shots in the first half, manufacturing several chances early before the Rodriguez (Inglewood, Calif./Notre Dame Academy) goal.

After Rodriguez's score, the junior forward almost came down and put home a second goal less than a minute later, but her shot went just over the crossbar.

Pacific did not manage a shot in the first half and had just the one in the second half. It was the sixth shutout of the year for the Waves and goalkeeper Hannah Seabert (Riverside, Calif./Woodcrest Christian HS), who was never really tested in the game.

In the second half the Waves had 17 shots and numerous quality scoring chances. Taylor Alvarado (Santa Paula, Calif./Santa Paula HS) was stopped twice from close range by Pacific keeper Lena Perry in the 54th minute and then in the 59th minute Rylee Baisden (Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza HS) sent a shot on target, but a Tiger defender got a hip on the ball at the goal line to send it wide.

Pacific's lone chance came in the 61st minute when Alex Hussar got free behind the Waves' defense, but she sent her shot wide.

Pepperdine nearly had a goal in the 84th minute, but Alvarado was whistled offsides on the play.

"We've been working on our defensive shape a lot lately and different phases of the game when we're not in possession of the ball," said Ward. "I feel like that's helped us create a lot more chances both against Cal Poly and today. We're a young team that's still growing and I'm really happy with the soccer we've been playing, you just want to validate that with more goals."

Three different players finished the day with five shots for the Waves and a total of six different players had multiple attempts. Pepperdine put nine balls on target in the game.

The Waves are back in action on Sunday, when WCC play continues at 1 p.m. against Saint Mary's.