MALIBU, California – Goals by Michelle Maemone and Isabel Nelson lifted the Pepperdine women's soccer team to a 2-1 home victory over BYU on Saturday afternoon, putting the Waves into first place in the West Coast Conference.
 
The Waves (8-6-1, 3-1-1) are atop the table with 10 points, though BYU (8-4-1, 3-1-0), Gonzaga (3-1) and Portland (3-1) are all close behind with nine points and they all have a game in hand.
 
Maemone (San Jose, Calif./The King's Academy) got the Waves off to a tremendous start with a goal in the second minute. BYU equalized in the 77th minute, but Nelson (Houston, Texas/The Kinkaid School) headed in a corner kick less than a minute later for the game-winner.
 
Senior goalkeeper Brielle Preece (Livermore, Calif./Granada HS) was called upon often to make plays, as BYU outshot Pepperdine 17-12. Preece made a career-high 10 saves. At the other end, the Cougars' Sabrina Macias Davis stopped a 47th-minute penalty kick.
 
Senior midfielder Christina Settles (Oceanside, Calif./Oceanside HS) had the primary assist on both goals. Nelson made big plays on both ends, also clearing the ball off the line on a BYU shot in the 40th minute.
 
GOALS
 
Pepperdine 2': At midfield, freshman forward Leyla McFarland (Bonita, Calif./Eastlake HS) played the ball back to Settles, who sent a long pass up the left side of the field to Maemone. The senior forward ran into the ball at the top of the box and unleashed a shot, sending the ball off the right post and ricocheting into the back of the net for her second goal of the season (both have come in WCC play).
 
BYU 77': The Cougars' Rachel Lyman popped a high ball into the box that bounced past a first wave of players. BYU's Bella Folino got to the ball first after the bounce and poked it home for the game-tying goal.
 
Pepperdine 78': Just 43 seconds later, the Waves answered. Sophomore forward Joelle Anderson (San Jose, Calif./Harker School) took a corner kick and played it short to Settles, who sent it across the box and to the waiting head of Nelson. The freshman defender scored her second goal of the season (both have been headers off corner kicks).
 
STATS
 
Shots: Pepperdine 12, BYU 17
Shots on Goal: Pepperdine 5, BYU 12
Saves: Brielle Preece (Pepperdine) 10, Sabrina Macias Davis (BYU) 3
Corner Kicks: Pepperdine 3, BYU 2
Fouls: Pepperdine 11, BYU 9
Offside: Pepperdine 4, BYU 0
 
QUOTABLE
 
Pepperdine Coach Tim Ward said: "Defense is the recipe for success in this program and we've been defending really well. That's only three goals in the last nine games that we've conceded. We didn't like the way we conceded but I thought we did a nice job containing them for most of the game. Michelle, that was a world-class goal, that was something special. It went level at 1-1 and I think the most telling thing for our team right now is in that moment, rather than feeling sorry for ourselves, right off the kickoff we go down and win the corner kick and capitalize. That says everything you need to know about our character and team spirit."
 
NOTABLE
 

• Pepperdine is now 6-4-0 all-time against BYU and has won three straight and four of the last five.
• This was Pepperdine's first victory this season when giving up a goal (the previous seven wins were by shutout).

 
NEXT
 
Pepperdine closes out its four-game homestand next Saturday (Oct. 20) against PCH Cup rival Loyola Marymount at 1 p.m. The game will be shown on TheW.tv.