MALIBU, California – The Pepperdine women's soccer team celebrated Senior Day with goals from four different players and a 4-0 victory over visiting Saint Mary's on Saturday afternoon in West Coast Conference play.
 
The Waves (11-6-2, 7-2-0) end the regular season with a season-best four-game winning streak and a third-place finish in the WCC and now hope to hear their name called when the NCAA Tournament field is announced on Monday. This was Pepperdine's 10th shutout of the season.
 
The Gaels (7-11-1, 1-7-1) had some golden chances to make this a different game early. They hit a post and the crossbar within the first three minutes, and forced Pepperdine redshirt freshman goalkeeper Kinsey Ehmann (Paradise Valley, Ariz./Xavier College Preparatory) to make a great save in the 15th minute.
 
But junior midfielder Joelle Anderson (San Jose, Calif./Harker School) worked her magic to start the scoring in the 27th minute, and then the Waves added three more in a stretch of less than three minutes early in the second half to put the game out of reach.
 
GOALS
 
Pepperdine 27': Anderson won the ball on the right side, and juked the defender by cutting left, then back to the right, then back to the left before knocking her left-footed shot off the left post and in. She's now scored five goals in the last five games, including three this week, and has a team-high six on the season.
 
Pepperdine 47': Sophomore defender Trinity Watson (Ocean Beach, Calif./Point Loma HS) lined up for a free kick from 19 yards out, and her attempt went off the left post, and right back into the mix of players in front of goal, where it was immediately knocked in by sophomore defender Isabel Nelson (Houston, Texas/The Kinkaid School). It was Nelson's second goal of the season.
 
Pepperdine 48': Sophomore forward Leyla McFarland (Bonita, Calif./Eastlake HS) took the ball up the left side, skipped past a defender, and centered the ball into the middle for junior forward Devyn Gilfoy (Brentwood, Calif./Liberty HS), who one-timed it home from about 12 yards out. It was Gilfoy's fourth goal of the season and her third in the last five games.
 
Pepperdine 50': A Saint Mary's goal kick was immediately sent back across the field by sophomore midfielder Madi Cook (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Tesoro HS). McFarland ran onto it at the top of the box, took a dribble to her left and though her shot got a piece of the goalkeeper, it found just enough momentum to bounce past the goal line. It was McFarland's fourth goal of the season.
 
STATS
 
Shots: Pepperdine 13, Saint Mary's 11
Shots on Goal: Pepperdine 10, Saint Mary's 1
Saves: Kinsey Ehmann (Pepperdine) 1, Maleah Milner (Saint Mary's) 6, Sarah Sawatsky (Saint Mary's) 0
Corner Kicks: Pepperdine 3, Saint Mary's 1
Fouls: Pepperdine 10, Saint Mary's 10
Offside: Pepperdine 3, Saint Mary's 1
 
QUOTABLE
 
Pepperdine Coach Tim Ward said: "We came out really flat with the emotion of Senior Day and dodged a bullet, they should have probably had a goal in the first three minutes. But we recovered well and Joelle scored a stunning goal to put us in the lead. I think the halftime talk worked. Our girls knew what was at stake and that our energy wasn't right in the first half. In the second half we were focused, and we got three goals in the first five minutes and that was excellent. So we're really proud of this group. This group of seniors is amazing, amazing women both on and off the field. We're hoping for good news on Monday. I think we've put ourselves in a strong position for that but we'll wait and see."
 
NOTABLE

• Pepperdine honored seniors Courtney Merrill, Tara Morris, Hailey Stenberg and Brooke Zenner in a pregame ceremony. Although Merrill and Morris have been injured all season, they were given a ceremonial start before being subbed out immediately.
• The Waves improved to 13-8-4 all-time against Saint Mary's but beat the Gaels at home for the first time since 2013.
• The Waves end their home season with a 7-2-1 record, their 27th time with a winning record in 27 seasons at Tari Frahm Rokus Field.
• The four goals matches a season high (also done against Pacific at home two weekends ago).

NEXT
 
The NCAA Tournament selection show is Monday (Nov. 11) at 1:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.