PORTLAND, Oregon – The #25 Pepperdine women's soccer team finished up its final regular-season road trip with an excellent showing, as
Hailey Harbison and
Brie Welch scored goals in a 2-0 win at Portland in West Coast Conference play on Sunday afternoon.
Heading into the final weekend of play, the Waves (10-6-2, 5-1-2) know they will finish no worse than third in the WCC and have a chance for second, while an NCAA Tournament berth remains a possibility. The Pilots fell to 11-8, 4-4 on their Senior Day.
Harbison (Rancho Penasquitos, Calif./Westview HS) scored on a penalty kick in the 37th minute and Welch (Arroyo Grande, Calif./Arroyo Grande HS) doubled the lead in the 56th minute. The Waves were outstanding defensively in posting their ninth shutout of the season and dominated possession for long stretches of time. The final shot count was 18-2 in Pepperdine's favor.
GOALS
Pepperdine 37': Junior forward
Hailey Stenberg (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS) was tripped up in the box, and Harbison stepped up and buried the penalty kick. It was the first goal of the season and the third in the career for the senior defender.
Pepperdine 56': Sophomore forward
Devyn Gilfoy (Brentwood, Calif./Liberty HS) played the ball ahead to Welch, who took a few touches and unleashed a low, rolling shot from about 25 yards out that beat the Portland goalkeeper just inside the left post. It was Welch's third goal of the season and the seventh of the sophomore forward's career.
STATS
Shots: Pepperdine 18, Portland 2
Shots on Goal: Pepperdine 10, Portland 1
Saves:
Brielle Preece (Pepperdine) 1, Rachel Lusby (Portland) 7
Corner Kicks: Pepperdine 4, Portland 2
Fouls: Pepperdine 5, Portland 16
Offside: Pepperdine 1, Portland 2
QUOTABLE
Pepperdine Coach
Tim Ward said: "This was a really good result for us today. We were a little disappointed on Friday (after a 0-0 tie at Gonzaga). Gonzaga played well but we could have won, we had our chances. So the thing I'm most proud of today is the response. We showed our character. Portland is not an easy place to play at. But from the first whistle, we were all in and played very good soccer. We finally converted a PK, got an important second goal, and could have added to that. Special praise to the back line, and the midfielders in front of them, they shut down Portland and really squeezed the game. We're defending really well. We're 9-1-2 in the last 12 games and that's not easy. Hopefully we're making a case for ourselves for the NCAA Tournament, we have to be one of the most in-form teams in the country right now."
NOTABLE
- Pepperdine won its 10th game of the season. That gives the Waves double-digit victories for the third straight year, seven times in the last eight years and 18 times overall in the program's history.
- The Waves won in Portland for just the third time in 13 visits, but are unbeaten in their last three trips there. The Waves are 4-0-1 against the Pilots over the last five years.
- Senior goalkeeper Brielle Preece (Livermore, Calif./Granada HS) earned her second shutout of the weekend, her eighth of the season and the 22nd of her career, which ranks fourth all-time at Pepperdine.
NEXT
Pepperdine closes out the regular season at home next Saturday (Nov. 3) against San Diego at 1 p.m. It will be Senior Day and it will be shown on TheW.tv.
