MALIBU, California – Joelle Anderson got the Pepperdine's women's soccer team's first goal of the season in the fifth minute and the Waves would make it stand up in a 1-0 victory over Brown on Friday afternoon at Tari Frahm Rokus Field.
 
After a pair of 1-0 road defeats to start the season, coming back to the confines of home for the first time worked out well for Pepperdine (1-2), which outshot Brown (0-1) 16-3 on the day.
 
Senior goalkeeper Brielle Preece (Livermore, Calif./Granada HS) didn't need to make any saves to record the shutout, though her command of the box paid dividends at a few key moments. On the other side, Brown's Christine Etzel made eight saves, including a few exceptional ones to keep the game close.
 
GOALS
 
Pepperdine 5': A give-and-go between sophomore forwards Joelle Anderson (San Jose, Calif./Harker School) and Brie Welch (Arroyo Grande, Calif./Arroyo Grande HS) put the Waves on the board. Anderson dribbled up the middle, passed it to Welch on the left, and Welch immediately poked it back to her right. Anderson went with the ball at the top of the box, and moving to her right, she took a shot that made it just inside the right post. It was Anderson's 10th career goal.
 
QUOTABLE
 
Pepperdine Coach Tim Ward said: "We started really, really well. We have to be a bit more sophisticated as we evolve, so we've been messing around with some different systems of play. We got a great first goal. In games like this, it's important to get a second goal, and we had a ton of chances. Brown made some good adjustments in the second half and caused us trouble, but we handled it well and I'm really proud of the team."
 
STATS
 
Shots: Pepperdine 16, Brown 3
Shots on Goal: Pepperdine 8, Brown 0
Saves: Brielle Preece (Pepperdine) 0, Christine Etzel (Brown) 8
Corner Kicks: Pepperdine 5, Brown 3
Fouls: Pepperdine 6, Brown 9
Offside: Pepperdine 2, Brown 0
 
NOTABLE
 
The Waves have now posted 10 straight shutouts at Tari Frahm Rokus Field ... Redshirt freshman defender Laura Ishikawa (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) made her first career start.
 
NEXT
 
Pepperdine stays at home on Sunday afternoon (Aug. 25) for a 1 p.m. battle with #8 USC. The match will be aired on TheW.tv.