The #13 Pepperdine women's soccer team remains perfect in conference play with a 4-3 win over WCC champion Gonzaga Saturday night.
Revenge is best served on the opponent's home field. After a crushing 2-1 loss for the WCC Championship title at Tari Frahm Rokus Field, the Waves (8-2-2) wanted redemption. After 45 minutes, it was a 1-1 draw. The second half completely broke open, seeing five goals between the teams for Pepperdine to beat Gonzaga (5-6-1) to avenge the tail end of the 2023 season.
The Waves have a habit of striking early, and today was no different. For her first of the day, graduate Tori Waldeck (Newhall, Calif.) was served a nice ball to the center of the box by freshman Elle Quinn (Folsom, Calif.) and snuck it past the goalie on the left-hand side to give Pepperdine a 1-0 lead.
Shortly after, Gonzaga responded and tied in up 1-1 in the 18th minute. Despite outshooting Gonzaga 9-to-4 in the first half of play, both teams would go to half with no team holding an advantage over the other.
The first 15 minutes of the second half was a matter of finding footing for both sides as the score remained constant. The Bulldogs would take the lead in the 60th minute and the Waves found themselves with 30 minutes to find an answer.
Pepperdine would do more than find an equalizer. With three goals in seven minutes, the Waves made a statement. Waldeck got her second of the night thanks to a deflected shot by redshirt junior Tabitha LaParl (Lakewood, Calif.). The ball landed perfectly at Waldeck's feet and she would execute for the second tie of the match.
For the third lead change of the match, junior Tatum Wynalda (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) finishes a beautiful sequence of passes from the Pepperdine offense to give the Waves the lead for the second time in the match. Sliding to the grass, Wynalda is able to punch the ball into the net with her right foot thanks to balls threaded through the Gonzaga defense by redshirt sophomore Kyra Murphy (Riverside, Calif.) and Quinn.
This is Quinn's second start with the Waves, but she is making her presence known early with two assists on the night.
For the game-winner, Waldeck becomes just the seventh Wave in history to score a hat trick, getting an unassisted goal from a one-on-one opportunity with the goalie. She is the first to accomplish such a feat since 2017 when Bri Visalli scored three against Gonzaga, almost seven years ago on the dot.
The Bulldogs would get one more to narrow the gap, but ran out of time for any chance at an equalizer.
#13 Pepperdine won after a flurry of second-half goals with a final score of 4-3.
GOALS
11' : Waldeck's first goal of the night off the foot of Quinn, perfectly place in the middle of the box outside the six.
18' : Gonzaga responded immediately with a goal from Paige Alexander.
60' : Alexander got a brace on the night to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.
66' : Waldeck's second of the night comes off a defensive rebound, sparked by LaParl's initial shot into the box.
71' : Wynalda finishes a beautiful sequence of passes by sliding the ball past the goalie's legs and into the net for the lead.
73' : Waldeck finishes her night with a hat trick after a defensive mistake allows her to take on the goalie one-on-one, resulting in her third goal of the night.
79' : Chelsea Le gets Gonzaga's third goal of the night to attempt a comeback.
STATS
Shots: Pepperdine 19, Gonzaga 8
Shots on Goal: Pepperdine 8, Gonzaga 4
Saves: Jillian Medvecky (Pepperdine) 1, Lauren Towne (Gonzaga) 1
Corner Kicks: Pepperdine 6, Gonzaga 3
Fouls: Pepperdine 11, Gonzaga 11
Offsides: Pepperdine 0, Cornell 0
UP NEXT
The Waves are back home to host the #10 Santa Clara Broncos. It is the mental health awareness game as well as a cowboy hat giveaway for the first 50 students in attendance. Tickets can be purchased here.
