Final Stats

Box Score

MALIBU, Calif. - The No. 25 Pepperdine women's soccer team took down first-place San Diego on Thursday afternoon, 2-0, thanks to a spectacular early goal from Hailey Stenberg and then some stellar defense the rest of the way.

The win moves the Waves to 7-3-3 overall and 2-0-1 in West Coast Conference play. San Diego falls to 7-5-1, 2-1-0 WCC.

"This was a great team win against a really good opponent," said head coach Tim Ward. "Today was about being really strong defensively. Our entire back unit did a great job. San Diego is an athletic team that's really good on set pieces, and I thought our composure in dealing with those things was excellent."

Stenberg (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS) put the Waves on top in the eighth minute, collecting a turnover by the Toreros and then chipping a shot from 35 yards out to catch the San Diego keeper off her line. It was Stenberg's second goal of the year and comes just one game after the freshman scored her first career goal against Gonzaga.

Pepperdine had a couple more chances in the half and managed to put up seven shots in the first 45 minutes. San Diego had just three shots in the first half, putting one on target. Hannah Seabert (Riverside, Calif./Woodcrest Christian HS) made a spectacular save on the Torero's best chance of the day, knocking a shot from the right side of the box just up and over the bar. Seabert had two saves in the game and commanded the penalty area well on the Toreros' crosses.

"Hannah was fantastic out there," said Ward. "You have to step it up in these conference games and she did in a big way. Her range was really good today. Our entire goalkeepers unit has been working so hard and Cody Thompson our goalkeeper coach has been doing a tremendous job with them."

With the Toreros pressing in the second half, Katy Byrne (Katy, Texas/Seven Lakes HS) found the back of the net in the 86th minute, collecting a long pass from Nicole Leggio (Upland, Calif./St. Lucy's Priory HS) and dribbling past the San Diego keeper for her third goal of the year.

"The game at Gonzaga really got our offense going and gave a few of the girls some good confidence," said Ward. "Hailey Stenberg was one of them and I think you saw that today. She did a great job making them pay for a mistake. Then Katy did an excellent job to put things away after she had been denied by an excellent save earlier in the game."

Pepperdine held 12-4 shot advantage in the game, allowing just one shot for the Toreros in the second half.

The Waves stay home this weekend, facing No. 5 BYU on Saturday at 1 p.m. That game can be seen live on TheW.tv.