SAN FRANCISCO, California – Two goals by
Joelle Anderson and a free kick by
Trinity Watson – all within a seven-minute span in the first half – lifted the Pepperdine women's soccer team to a crucial 3-2 West Coast Conference victory at San Francisco on a foggy Wednesday night.
The road victory should help bolster the Waves' NCAA Tournament hopes as they won for the 10th time this season. The Waves (10-6-2, 6-2-0) outshot the Dons (10-7-2, 3-4-1) by a count of 20-9. All five goals were scored in the first half.
GOALS
San Francisco 20': Pepperdine redshirt freshman goalkeeper
Kinsey Ehmann (Paradise Valley, Ariz./Xavier College Preparatory) got a finger on San Francisco's first shot of the game, and that was enough to push the ball high enough to hit the crossbar. But the rebound went to USF's Keely Roy, who quickly centered it to Samantha Jehnings, who scored.
Pepperdine 30': Junior forward
Devyn Gilfoy (Brentwood, Calif./Liberty HS) brought the ball up the right side and crossed it into the middle, where junior forward
Joelle Anderson (San Jose, Calif./Harker School) one-timed it home from about eight yards out.
Pepperdine 33': Just three minutes later, the Waves scored a near-mirror image to the first goal. Gilfoy took the ball up the left. She centered it into the box, and Anderson ran onto it and scored from 10 yards out. Anderson has now taken over the team lead with her fourth and fifth goals of the season.
Pepperdine 36': The Waves earned a free kick from about 22 yards out, and sophomore defender
Trinity Watson (Ocean Beach, Calif./Point Loma HS) buried her shot into the upper-left-hand corner. It was her third goal of the season, all of which have come in WCC play.
San Francisco 36': In less than 30 seconds, the Dons went down the field and won a corner kick, and then Halle Watson knocked in the corner sent in by Roy.
STATS
Shots: Pepperdine 20, San Francisco 9
Shots on Goal: Pepperdine 9, San Francisco 6
Saves:
Kinsey Ehmann (Pepperdine) 3, Olivia Camera (San Francisco) 6
Corner Kicks: Pepperdine 6, San Francisco 5
Fouls: Pepperdine 9, San Francisco 11
Offside: Pepperdine 1, San Francisco 2
QUOTABLE
Pepperdine Coach
Tim Ward said: "It was a crazy game with the fog. But the girls played beautifully. San Francisco is a really strong team offensively and they've been scoring goals all year long. Obviously we didn't want to concede but they got the first goal. But our response to that was excellent. We didn't hang our heads and we got three brilliant goals. Devyn and Joelle connect on two, and then Trinity's free kick was world class. The game was really wide open and we could have had a few more. But instead of making it 4-1, they get a set piece goal that was really hard to see because of the fog, and it's 3-2 going to halftime. We talked about what we needed to do defensively and every player was fantastic the rest of the way. Kinsey made some important saves. Their keeper made some great saves or we would have scored more. We've got one more massive game that we're looking forward to on Saturday for Senior Day."
NOTABLE
- The road victory should help Pepperdine's RPI figure, as they were #46 at the start of the week and USF was #56.
- Standing at 18 points with one match to play, the Waves are assured of a top-three finish in the WCC.
- The Waves have won at least 10 games now for the 19th time in school history, as well as the fourth straight year and the eighth time in the last nine years.
- Anderson is the first Wave this season to score twice in a game, while Gilfoy became the first to collect a pair of assists.
NEXT
Saturday (Nov. 9) is the regular-season finale as the Waves host Saint Mary's at 1 p.m. It will be Senior Day and Pepperdine will recognize its four seniors in a pregame ceremony.
