The #22 Pepperdine women's soccer team soundly defeated San Diego 5-1 despite the rain Saturday afternoon at Tari Frahm Rokus Field.
 
As per usual, the Waves offense came out of the kickoff with energy. Just five minutes into the match, graduate Tori Waldeck (Newhall, Calif.) scored her eighth goal of the season unassisted. Weaving through the Torero defense, Waldeck dribbled in from the left side of the field to thread the ball into the goal for the first of the match.
 
Six minutes later, San Diego equalized on a free kick. Taking advantage of the Pepperdine foul, Mikayla Abrenica slid the ball to the far side of the net from the right-hand side of the field.
 
Before half, Pepperdine took the lead back off the foot of graduate Megan Edelman (Danville, Calif.). An assist from junior Tatum Wynalda (Thousand Oaks, Calif) gave Edelman the ball in the middle of the box where she was able to put it in the back of the goal off her left foot.
 
At half, the Waves had a 2-1 lead.
 
Shortly after the second half began, freshman Ariana Salvador (Newhall, Calif.) took a corner from the right side of the field, looking for her second olympico of the year. Bending the ball into a dangerous position, the Torero defense could not cleanly clear the ball, resulting in a Pepperdine goal.
 
Not even 10 minutes later, Waldeck got her second goal of the match for her second multi-goal performance in a match, with the first coming in her hat trick against Gonzaga Oct. 5. Sophomore Peyton Leonard (Ladera Ranch, Calif.) sent the ball sailing down the left side of the field to find redshirt junior Kyra Murphy (Riverside, Calif.). Slotting the ball from outside the left-hand side of the box, Murphy set Waldeck up perfectly for her second goal of the afternoon.
 
As the final exclamation point, Edelman got her fourth goal of the season, as well as her first brace with the Waves. For her second assist, Leonard found Waldeck in the attacking third to put Pepperdine in a scoring formation. Similar to her second goal, the five-year Wave was able to send the ball across the box to find Edelman just outside the goal on the right-hand side for the fifth and final goal of the match.
 
In the hunt for the West Coast Conference title, Pepperdine is currently in a three-way tie with Oregon State and #11 Santa Clara. All three teams are 5-1-2 in conference play with two matches to go. The tie-breaker will be head-to-head results, where Oregon State would hold the advantage.
 
GOALS

5' | Waldeck's eighth of the season came unassisted on the left hand side of the field.

11' | San Diego equalized on a free kick right outside the box.

26' | Edelman owns the game winner after finishing a beautiful pass from Wynalda.

50' | Salvador served the corner kick dangerously into San Diego's box, resulting in a Torero own goal.

59' |  Waldeck's second of the day came off a well-executed sequence from Murphy and Leonard.

62' |  For the fifth and final goal of the day, Edelman got her first brace as a Wave, poking a ball into the net that was gifted from Waldeck with the initial service from Leonard.

STATS
Shots: Pepperdine 17, San Diego 4

Shots on Goal: Pepperdine 10, San Diego 3

Saves: Jillian Medvecky (Pepperdine) 1, Taylor Rath (Pepperdine) 1, Ilise Medrano (San Diego) 4, Aliya Garrett (San Diego) 2

Corner Kicks: Pepperdine 4, San Diego 3

Fouls: Pepperdine 13, San Diego 11

Offsides: Pepperdine 3, San Diego 0

UP NEXT
The #22 Pepperdine soccer team heads to Moraga, Calif. for the last away game of the regular season against Saint Mary's. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required).