MALIBU, California –
Nicolette Lewis and
Olivia Packer both scored their first career goals to lead the Pepperdine women's soccer team to a 2-0 home victory over Gonzaga on Saturday in West Coast Conference action.
The Waves improved to 7-5-2 overall and 3-1 in the WCC, while dropping the Zags to 9-4-1, 2-1-1.
Both Lewis and Packer scored in the first half. The Waves had the better run of play and outshot the Bulldogs 15-9. It was Pepperdine's seventh shutout of the season.
GOALS
Pepperdine 9': Senior forward
Hailey Stenberg (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS) sent in a corner kick from the right side. Near the far post, junior forward
Devyn Gilfoy (Brentwood, Calif./Liberty HS) leaped up and headed the ball back across the goal. From a couple of yards out in front of the right post, sophomore midfielder
Nicolette Lewis (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay HS) side-volleyed it home for the game's opening goal.
Pepperdine 38': Junior forward
Chloe Gaynor (Dana Point, Calif,/Dana Hils HS) ran onto a loose ball at the top of the box, and played it perfectly to the left in front of redshirt freshman midfielder
Olivia Packer (Las Vegas, Calif./Palo Verde HS), who took one dribble and smashed it with her left foot from a dozen yards out, doubling the Waves' lead.
STATS
Shots: Pepperdine 15, Gonzaga 9
Shots on Goal: Pepperdine 8, Gonzaga 4
Saves:
Kinsey Ehmann (Pepperdine) 4, Isabel Jones (Gonzaga) 2, Lyza Bosselmann (Gonzaga) 4
Corner Kicks: Pepperdine 5, Gonzaga 6
Fouls: Pepperdine 7, Gonzaga 7
Offside: Pepperdine 0, Gonzaga 2
QUOTABLE
Pepperdine Coach
Tim Ward said: "It's a great result against a very good team. Gonzaga's doing a great job and they were tough. But we played well. The first goal to get us out of the gates was really good and Nicolette's finish was really nice. I thought we kept pushing the tempo and our second goal was really a thing of beauty. We had some really unselfish running to create the space for Olivia and she just buried it. It was a really nice finish. And then in the second half, we knew we didn't need more goals to win the game, but it would have been nice to get a third, but to be fair, they pushed the tempo and we had a very mature, defensive performance in the second half. It's a good result for us today."
NOTABLE
- This was the 300th victory in program history.
- Pepperdine is unbeaten in its last nine matchups with Gonzaga (7-0-2) and 19-5-3 all-time.
- Gonzaga was receiving votes in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll, making this the eighth time in 14 games that the Waves were playing an opponent either ranked or receiving votes.
NEXT
The Waves visit #20 Santa Clara on Wednesday (Oct. 23) in a match that will be televised by ESPNU at 8 p.m.
