MALIBU, Calif.  –  The Pepperdine women's soccer will play its final road non-conference game against the defending NCAA champion #5 UCLA on Friday.
 
MATCH #9 — Friday (Sept. 15) at Wallis Annenberg Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif.: Pepperdine (2-1-5) at #5 UCLA (5-1-0) at 7 p.m. PT
 
WATCH/ONLINE — The match will be streamed on UCLA Live Stream-2. Links to live stats and the stream can be found at PepperdineWaves.com.
 
UCLA — The Waves are 3-21-4 all-time the Bruins. Pepperdine and UCLA matched up in the 2022 season at Tari Frahm Rokus Field, and the Bruins earned a 4-0 victory over the Waves. Pepperdine's last win against UCLA was during the 2010 season.
 
LAST WEEK — On Friday, the Waves traveled to the South and earned a 2-2 draw against LSU. The Waves scored two beautiful goals early on in the first half, by Tori Waldeck and Skylar Enge, but the Tigers cut the deficit to one before heading into the break. Half time was longer than expected due to lightning and LSU was able to score the equalizer in the final 10 minutes. Pepperdine scored within the first minute of play, but was ruled offside. On Sunday, Pepperdine then made its way to the Midwest to matchup against Illinois, and fell 3-2. The Waves and Fighting Illini were tied 1-all after the first 45 minutes of play, courtesy of a Taylor Bloom goal. Illinois then tallied a penalty-kick goal to take a 2-1 lead following the break. Tori Waldeck scored the equalizer 20 minutes later, but a late goal by Illinois gave them the victory.
 
WCC STATS — The Waves are ranked fourth in the WCC in save percentage (.756) and fifth in goals per game (1.625) ... Taylor Rath ranks third in the conference in saves per game (3.75), fourth in save percentage (.789) and sixth in goals against average (1.086) ... Skylar Enge is tied for second in assists (four) and assists per game (.500) and is 10th in points (eight) ... Tori Waldeck is fourth in the WCC in shots on goal per game (1.38), tied for sixth in assists (three) and assists per game (.375) and is 10th in shots per game (2.38) ... Karina Gonzalez is tied for sixth in assists (three) and assists per game (.375) ... Julianna Duckett ranks tied for ninth in assists (two) and assists per game (.250).
 
HONORS — Taylor Rath and Julia Quinonez collected the second and third WCC weekly honor after being named Defensive and Offensive Player of the Week. Rath and Quinonez helped the Waves go 1-0-1 over the weekend, when the Waves tied San Diego State 1-1 on Thursday night and blanked CSUN 2-0 on Sunday night. Rath had a career-high six saves against SDSU prior to earning her first shutout of the season at CSUN, 2-0. Rath posted a .909 save percentage combined last week, and only allowed one goal ... Quinonez has made an immediate impact for the Waves as she scored in both matches last week, including the game-winning goal against the Matadors (2-0). She recorded five shots in both games combined ... This is the first time in program history that Pepperdine has swept the WCC Players of the Week accolades.  Prior to the 2021 season, the conference only honored one player each week ...Tatum Wynalda notched the first WCC weekly accolade for the Waves this season, as she was named Offensive Player of the Week after scoring both game-tying goals in the match against #16 Georgetown (8/17) and Michigan (8/19). 
 
AWARDS — Tatum Wynalda of the Waves received notice on the United Soccer Coaches' preseason forwards to watch list. Additionally, Tori Waldeck and Wynalda were also voted to the preseason All-WCC squad.
 
ROSTER NUMBERS — The Waves' 27-player roster breakdown is five seniors, two redshirt juniors, four juniors, two redshirt sophomores, six sophomores, three redshirt freshmen and five true freshmen. Pepperdine has six returning starters and 18 letterwinners back.
WCC — The Waves were picked to finish third in the WCC preseason coaches poll for a second consecutive season. The order went as follows: Santa Clara, Portland, Pepperdine, Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, San Francisco, Pacific, Loyola Marymount, San Diego.
 
LAST SEASON — The Waves finished the 2022 season with a 9-4-5 overall record and tied for fifth place in the WCC at 3-3-3. Tatum Wynalda earned All-WCC second team honors and WCC All-Freshman team. Other returning players honored by the league were Taylor Bloom and Kam Pickett, who earned All-WCC honorable mention.
 
WAVES IN THE PROS — Several Waves have made their marks professionally. Lynn Williams is a three-time NWSL champion (2016 Western New York Flash, 2018 and 2019 North Carolina Courage). In 2016, she was also the NWSL MVP and Golden Boot winner. As a member of the U.S. National Team, she's earned 43 caps and scored 14 goals. She won a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Williams made her World Cup debut in the summer of 2023. Bri Visalli, who has been part of the U.S. U-23 team, played in England for a couple of seasons before joining the NWSL's Houston Dash in 2020. In January 2019, the Waves had two NWSL Draft selections for the first time in Hailey Harbison (first round to North Carolina) and Michelle Maemone (third round to Utah). Rylee Baisden was named the 2019 Player of the Year in Australia's NPLW and joined the North Carolina Courage in 2020. The Waves have produced two Olympians (Williams and Roxanne Barker, South Africa, 2012 and 2016) and a Women's World Cup participant (Anisa Guajardo, Mexico, 2015). Anna Picarelli played for Italy and Kristi DeVert was the first Wave to suit up with the USWNT.  In January 2022, Joelle Anderson signed a two-year professional contract with the Houston Dash. In June 2023, Kelsey Hill signed with Angel City FC as a national team replacement player.
 
ABOUT PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY — Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won NCAA Division I championships in five different men's sports — one of just 20 schools to have accomplished this feat — and 10 overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment, is the only school without football and is the only university that has not been affiliated with a "major" conference. The Waves have won a total of 26 team or individual national championships in their history. Pepperdine has also earned the Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy, an award based on postseason success that's given to the top non-football school, five times (most recently in back-to-back years during the 2022-23 and 2021-22). Located in scenic Malibu, California, the university overlooks the Pacific Ocean and its campus and athletic facilities are regularly voted among the nation's most beautiful. Pepperdine, which is affiliated with the Church of Christ, ranks #55 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.