HONOLULU, HAWAI'I – For the second time in a week, the Pepperdine women's soccer team got a positive result against a top-five-ranked Pacific-12 Conference team, as the Waves held #5 UCLA to a 2-2 draw in the first game of the Rainbow Wahine Shootout.
UCLA (5-1-1) scored first but the Waves (3-3-2) came back with goals by
Chloe Gaynor and
Hailey Stenberg to take a 2-1 lead in the second half, though the Bruins would notch the game's final goal in the 65th minute.
As they did in the Waves' 1-0 victory over then-#2 Stanford last Friday, redshirt freshman goalkeeper
Kinsey Ehmann (Paradise Valley, Ariz./Xavier College Preparatory) and the Waves' defense had to be at their best when the game was on the line. The Bruins took 20 shots to the Waves' five, and Ehmann recorded seven saves.
GOALS
UCLA 5': The Bruins' Ashley Sanchez opened the scoring off an assist by Kennedy Faulknor.
Pepperdine 34': Sophomore forward
Leyla McFarland (Bonita, Calif./Eastlake HS) got the ball inside the UCLA half of the field, dribbled down the middle, and then slid the ball out wide to sophomore forward
Aliyah Satterfield (Valencia, Calif./West Ranch HS). Satterfield sent the ball toward goal, and though UCLA's goalkeeper got a hand on it, junior forward
Chloe Gaynor (Dana Point, Calif./Dana Hills HS) was there to knock it in. Gaynor scored her first goal of the season and the second of her career. Satterfield picked up her first career point.
Pepperdine 52': From at least 25 yards out, senior forward
Hailey Stenberg (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS) fired a hard, knuckling shot on target that the UCLA goalkeeper couldn't handle, putting Pepperdine in front. Stenberg has now scored in two straight games and has had a point in three consecutive contests.
UCLA 65': The Bruins' Sanchez got her second goal off an assist from Mia Fishel.
STATS
Shots: Pepperdine 5, UCLA 20
Shots on Goal: Pepperdine 3, UCLA 9
Saves:
Kinsey Ehmann (Pepperdine) 7, Teagan Micah (UCLA) 1
Corner Kicks: Pepperdine 3, UCLA 7
Fouls: Pepperdine 7, UCLA 5
Offside: Pepperdine 3, UCLA 3
QUOTABLE
Pepperdine Coach
Tim Ward said: "We're so proud of this performance. Our girls battled. We're not playing any powder puffs here. That is a really, really talented UCLA team. We started a little slow, were a little flat, and they deserved a goal. But our subs did such a wonderful job to lift us, and Leyla, Aliyah and Chloe combined for a great goal. Hailey then did what seniors do in a big moment, and she cracked a great shot. We had the belief we could do again what we did to Stanford, but UCLA was so good, and they deserved their second goal. Kinsey made a ridiculous save at the end of regulation. Everybody put the effort in and our defending was brilliant down the stretch. It was impressive and inspiring."
NOTABLE
- The Waves earned a draw against a highly rated UCLA team for the second time in three years. The Bruins were ranked #1 in 2017 when Pepperdine forced a 1-1 tie.
- The Waves are now 1-1-2 against the four nationally ranked teams they've faced this season.
NEXT
Pepperdine plays its fifth nationally ranked opponent in the season's first nine games on Sunday (Sept. 22) as the Rainbow Wahine Shootout continues against #24 Washington State at 1 p.m. HT/4 p.m. PT.
