LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Redshirt senior forward
Devyn Gilfoy found the back of the net in the 39th minute and junior midfielder
Carlee Giammona tacked on a security goal for the Pepperdine women's soccer team to complete the season opening win, 2-0, against #14 USC on Thursday afternoon.
Redshirt senior goalkeeper
Zoe Clevely (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison HS) earned her first shutout of the 2021 season collecting seven saves.
The Waves (1-0-0) and Trojans (0-1-0) went back and forth, but the momentum for the Waves was too strong. Pepperdine outshot USC by a close margin of 16-15. In the springs the Waves went 0-4 against ranked teams and they are off to a great start heading into the season.
GOALS
Pepperdine 40': Gilfoy (Brentwood, Calif./Liberty HS) made her way through two USC defenders, got the ball back from one of the defenders, the keeper came out of the box, and Gilfoy shook her way through and rocketed one in. It was Gilfoy's 10th career goal and her first one since 2019.
Pepperdine 84': Closing in toward the end of the game, it was back and forth between the Waves and Trojans. Gilfoy made a beauty of a pass across the top of the box to Giammona (Las Vegas, Nev./Palo Verde HS/Alabama) who touched around a defender and blasted her first goal as a Wave to the far right post.
STATS
Shots: Pepperdine 16, USC 15
Shots on goal: Pepperdine 8, USC 9
Saves:
Zoe Clevely (Pepperdine) 7, Anna Smith (USC) 6
Corner Kicks: Pepperdine 3, USC 3
Fouls: Pepperdine 6, USC 11
Offside: Pepperdine 2, USC 2
QUOTEABLE
Pepperdine Coach
Tim Ward said: "First of all, I have a ton of respect for Keidane (USC Women's Head Soccer Coach) and his whole staff, that's why we play them. We try to play them every year because they're one of the best teams in the country. To be honest, I thought we were a little disjointed, a little unorganized and we rode our luck, they could have had a goal, for sure. As the half went on we started talking to the girls on the sideline about what we were seeing and our substitutes went in and changed the game in the first half and got the momentum going in the right direction. I'm really proud of the girls, the unity is unquestionable and the execution application of what we were asking them to do was really good."
Gilfoy said: "It's awesome to have fans. Seeing some familiar faces out there, some fresh faces, just being able to hear the crowd cheer you on ups the anticipation for everyone. On top of that, we're playing on a beautiful pitch and beautiful weather. I don't think we reached our full potential last season and I don't think we are at our full potential this season, so I'm excited to see how we can build off of this win and just progress throughout the season."
NEXT
Pepperdine visits San Diego State University on Sunday (August 22) at 7 p.m.
