MORAGA, California –
Zoe Clevely saved a penalty kick and
Tori Waldeck scored two minutes later as the Pepperdine women's soccer team opened up West Coast Conference play with a 1-0 victory at Saint Mary's on Saturday.
The Waves (2-2-0, 1-0-0) had some good chances throughout but it was the Gaels (0-2-2, 0-1-1) that had a golden opportunity in the 58th minute when they earned a penalty kick. But Clevely chose correctly on Laura Trapero Sanz' shot, diving to her right to push the ball away. Pepperdine then got on the board just minutes later.
Pepperdine's defense earned its first shutout of the season. The Waves have outshot their opponents in all four games this season, including 12-8 today.
GOALS
Pepperdine 61': On a counter-attack, junior forward
Leyla McFarland (Bonita, Calif./Eastlake HS) dribbled up through the final third and just outside the box, sent ahead a perfect through ball into the path of freshman forward
Tori Waldeck (Newhall, Calif./Hart HS). Waldeck poked it past the goalkeeper on her first touch for her team-high second goal of the season.
STATS
Shots: Pepperdine 12, Saint Mary's 8
Shots on Goal: Pepperdine 9, Saint Mary's 2
Saves:
Zoe Clevely (Pepperdine) 2, Taylor Poland (Saint Mary's) 8
Corner Kicks: Pepperdine 5, Saint Mary's 5
Fouls: Pepperdine 13, Saint Mary's 9
Offside: Pepperdine 5, Saint Mary's 1
QUOTABLE
Pepperdine Coach
Tim Ward said: "I'm proud of our team for getting it done. Saint Mary's is a very organized team, they've got a new staff and a different way of playing and I was really impressed. They made it a tough game. In the first half we had a couple of moments. They were hard to break down, but we had a few chances. In the second half it opened up. We gave away another penalty kick, which was troubling. I'm really proud of Zoe, she made an exceptional save. It was so huge in terms of the moment. It might have taken the wind out of Saint Mary's sails and got us going.
"Leyla played an absolute peach of a ball, and Tori made a brilliant run and her toe poke under the keeper was fantastic. It was a special combination. We could have gotten a second goal, but down the stretch we defended well. It was our first shutout and it was deserved.
"
Madi Cook was absolutely on another level today. She was so good and such a physical presence.
Laura Ishikawa had a really good game. In the second half
Skylar Enge and
Julianna Duckett settled us down and got us playing. We established some rhythm through them."
NEXT
Pepperdine hosts San Francisco next Saturday (March 6) at 12 p.m. The match will be streamed online on the WCC Network. Due to COVID-19 protocols, spectators will not be permitted.
