MALIBU, Calif. – Pepperdine women's soccer (2-2-1), who received votes in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll, beat Columbia (0-3) 3-0 Thursday afternoon to move to 1-0-1 in Malibu.
 
"Some really good moments in terms of the performance today," Head coach Tim Ward said. "For our girls to be flexible and get back-to-back shutouts is a good trend. Really proud of the defensive effort today." 
 
Tabitha LaParl continues to lead the Waves as she notched her first goal of the season, a match-winner unassisted in 30th minute. The graduate also had an assist on the third goal for her third of the year. 
 


Even though Columbia rattled off more shots than Pepperdine in the first half of play, LaParl's goal was the difference as the Waves led 1-0 at the break.
 
The second half was much more lopsided in favor of the home team. The Lions got just one shot off in the latter 45 minutes compared to the Waves' six, three of which were on target. Columbia's single shot of the second half came in the form of a penalty kick in the 51st minute with the chance to tie the game at 1-1. The shot went just wide to the left of the goal as the Lions would struggle to find offense the remainder of the game. 
 
Peyton Leonard broke through in the 82nd minute for her second goal of the season to give the Waves some breathing room. Leonard scored on a header, served into the box via a corner kick by Tatum Wynalda.
 

Just two minutes later, Layla Simon scored her first collegiate goal with help from LaParl and Julia Quinonez. Simon is the first freshman to score for the Waves this season.
 
Jillian Medvecky had a quieter day in goal, grabbing two saves in the first half without a save to be made in the second.
 
The Waves earned the advantage on corner kicks for the second game in a row, securing six compared to the Lions' five. With 14 fouls on the afternoon, Pepperdine now has eight cautions as a squad through five games.
 
Next up, Pepperdine takes the weekend off before heading to Arizona. The Waves play Arizona State Thursday night before heading to the University of Arizona that Sunday. Thursday's first kick is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The stream will be available on ESPN+ (subscription required) with live stats available on pepperdinewaves.com
 

ABOUT PEPPERDINE WOMEN'S SOCCER

Pepperdine women's soccer has been competitive since season one in 1993. As just the third head coach in the program's history, Tim Ward has led the Waves to 14 NCAA tournament appearances, winning the West Coast Conference five separate times and taking his squad to the round of 16 four times, most recently in 2021. With 23 winning seasons, Ward has proven he can lead consistently with excellence, garnering an overall record of 309-152-77. 

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