MALIBU, California – Joelle Anderson and Isabel Nelson scored second-half goals to lead the Pepperdine women's soccer team to its third straight victory, all via shutout, with a 2-0 win over visiting UC Irvine on Sunday.
 
The Waves posted their fourth shutout of the season and improved to 4-5, while the Anteaters fell to 2-5-1.
 
An even first half actually saw UCI get the best opportunity to score, as they had two shots that were cleared off the line by Pepperdine defenders in the 41st minute following a corner kick.
 
But the second half was practically all Waves, and they got on the board in the 57th minute by Anderson (San Jose, Calif./Harker School). Less than two minutes later, a UCI player was sent off with a red card, lessening the Anteaters' chances of a comeback. And then, in the 67th minute, Nelson (Houston, Texas/The Kinkaid School) doubled the Waves lead off a corner kick.
 
Freshman forward Trinity Watson (Ocean Beach, Calif./Point Loma HS) assisted on both goals.
 
GOALS
 
Pepperdine 57': Junior forward Hailey Stenberg (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS) sent a long ball up the field from the Waves' half, which Watson ran onto. She passed back into the middle for Anderson, who sent a low, well-placed shot just inside the right post for her second goal in two games and her team-high third of the season. It was also the sophomore forward's 12th goal of her career.
 
Pepperdine 67': A pair of freshmen connected, as Nelson charged into the box to head in Watson's corner kick. It was the freshman defender's first career goal.
 
STATS
 
Shots: Pepperdine 12, UC Irvine 6
Shots on Goal: Pepperdine 5, UC Irvine 3
Saves: Brielle Preece (Pepperdine) 1, Maddie Newsom (UCI) 3
Corner Kicks: Pepperdine 3, UC Irvine 2
Fouls: Pepperdine 9, UC Irvine 8
Offside: Pepperdine 2, UC Irvine 2
 
QUOTABLE
 
Pepperdine Coach Tim Ward said: "Our response in the second half was really positive. We picked up the energy, picked up the tempo of our play. UC Irvine is good. They've got a lot of weapons. The first goal was always going to be important in this game and we got it, and it was a great goal. It was a team goal. It was a direct result of what we talked about at halftime. The red card changed the game, and the second goal was the dagger."
 
NOTABLE
 

• Senior goalkeeper Brielle Preece (Livermore, Calif./Granada HS) recorded her 17th career solo shutout, fourth all-time at Pepperdine.
• Pepperdine's previous three victories were all by 1-0 scores, and this was the first time the Waves have scored two goals in a game this season.
• The Waves improved to 10-4-2 all-time against the Anteaters.

 
NEXT
 
Pepperdine closes out non-conference play on Friday (Sept. 21) at UC Santa Barbara at 7:30 p.m.