Game Notes

This Week: The Pepperdine women's soccer team finishes up non-conference play, taking on UC Santa Barbara on Friday at home in the team's lone game this week.

Game #10: Friday (Sept. 22) at Tari Frahm Rokus Field in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine (5-2-2) vs. UCSB (3-3-3) at 3 p.m.

Multimedia: Friday's game will be broadcast live on TheW.tv. Links to the broadcast and live stats will be available on the soccer schedule page at PepperdineWaves.com. Fans can follow @WavesSoccer on Twitter for live, in-game updates.

Series vs. UCSB: Pepperdine leads, 10-3. The teams have not played since 2012, with the Waves winning the last two meeting.

Last Week: The Waves went 1-0-1 last week, picking up a 1-1 tie against No. 1 UCLA and a 4-1 win over UC Irvine.

Drawing the Bruins: Pepperdine picked up a thrilling draw at top-ranked UCLA last week, breaking a seven-game win streak for the undefeated Bruins. Pepperdine fell behind 1-0 just 37 seconds into the second half, but got the equalizing goal from Jamie Van Horn, who sent home a rebound in the box. Brielle Preece manufactured some heroics to make the result hold up, stopping a career-high nine shots, including three brilliant saves in overtime.

Player of the Week: Brielle Preece was named to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week after her performance against UCLA. The honor comes a week after she was named the WCC Player of the Week following a shutout at Northwestern.

On The Defensive: The Pepperdine defense has been stellar this year, giving up just five goals in nine games and posting four shutouts. The Waves had a 338 minute scoreless streak earlier in the year and the team's 0.53 goals against average ranks 20th in the country and first in the WCC.

Waves in the Rankings: Pepperdine has been receiving votes in the National Coaches Poll for the past weeks and after strong performances against UCLA and UC Irvine the Waves are just on the outside of the Top 25, receiving 57 points, sitting only behind Notre Dame with 61 points. Pepperdine currently sits 29th in RPI and 6th in the West Region coaches poll, the highest the Waves have been this year.

The Road Ahead: Pepperdine wraps up non-conference play with UCSB this week and then starts WCC competition next week at San Francisco and Santa Clara.

WCC Preseason Poll: Pepperdine was selected to finish third in the WCC Preseason Poll. Santa Clara edged BYU for the top spot in the poll. Bri Visalli was also named to the preseason all-conference team. It was the third straight year the Waves have been picked to finish third in the WCC preseason poll. Pepperdine outperformed that prediction last year with a WCC Championship.

2017 Roster: Pepperdine returns 18 players from its 2016 roster and brings in an 11-player freshman class. The Waves lost 10 players from last year's roster.

WCC Title: Pepperdine is coming off of its third WCC title last year. The Waves won their previous titles in 2011 and in 2002 before that. Pepperdine and BYU shared the championship with 7-1-1 records, but the Waves earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by beating the Cougars in their lone meeting last year.

Tim Ward: Ward picked up his fourth WCC Coach of the Year award and second in the last three years in 2016 and now heads into his 20th year at the helm for Pepperdine. He guided the Waves to a third conference title and ninth NCAA Tournament appearance last year. Ward now has 219 career wins as the winningest coach in program history. He has overseen 15 winning seasons and has led the Waves to 13 10-win seasons and nine years with at least 12 wins.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY: 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 18 schools to have accomplished this feat - and nine overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment and is the only school not affiliated with a BCS-level conference. The Waves have 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 #46 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.