Women’s Soccer Outpaces Portland in 1-0 Victory

Saturday, September 26

Portland, OR

3:00 p.m. PT

Pepperdine University

5-3-2, 1-0-0

University of Portland

4-6-0, 0-1-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Pepperdine	0	1	1
Portland	0	0	0

9/26/2026 6:57:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

PORTLAND, Ore . – Pepperdine women's soccer (5-3-2, 1-0 WCC) outshot the Pilots (4-6, 0-1 WCC) 13-4 Saturday afternoon in the 1-0 victory at Merlo field.

"WCC games are tough and the Pilots are excellent," Head coach Tim Ward said. "A big shout out to our entire defensive unit including a wonderful save by Jill Medvecky to preserve the victory."

"Our offense looked good tonight but it took another brilliant Lily Stewart header, what can you say, an incredible delivery by Alex Pendleton and just a special match winning goal!!!"

Starting the match on an offensive front, the Waves were quick to rattle shots off. Forcing three saves in the opening 45, Pepperdine was connecting in the finishing third, looking to just sneak past the Pilot's keeper. With good chances for the offense, the defense was locked on the other side of the field, not allowing a shot from the Pilots in the first half.

The Waves continued to play their game in the second half, knowing their opportunities would continue to threaten the Pilot defense. After a freekick was awarded early in the action of the latter 45 minutes, Alex Pendleton floated the perfect ball into the box, finding Lily Stewart to break the 0-0 tie. Stewart's goal, the second of her career, is strikingly similar to her first last season at Cal. Both goals for the junior have been match-winners.

In a high-stakes match as the first of the WCC slate for both Pepperdine and the conference, there were several reviews as Portland used both allotted challenges in the second half. The first was after a Pilot foul on Peyton Leonard disallowed a Portland goal, keeping the match 1-0 in favor of the visitors. Another looked for a foul in the box just a few moments later but nothing was found to constitute a penalty kick.

Despite Portland's urgency towards the end of the match, including three corner kicks in the final two and a half minutes, the Waves defense stood tall to preserve the fourth shutout of the year. Pepperdine starts 1-0 in conference play for the third year in a row.

"So proud of the girls and that performance!!" Ward said.

GAME NOTES

Today's lone goal was Lily Stewart's first of the season and second of her collegiate career
Stewart is the fifth Wave to score this year
Alex Pendleton logged her third assist, tying her to lead the team with Kyra Murphy's three assists.
Jillian Medvecky officially logged three saves today, coming up huge in the 57th minute to keep the clean sheet
This afternoon marked Medvecky's second shutout of the season as Ava Hartstein owns the other two
Julia Quinonez led the way for the Waves in shots with four, including three on frame
Pepperdine outshot Portland 13-4, including 7-3 on goal
The Pilots final offensive push to close the game out surpassed the Waves in corners, 4-3
Layla Simon, a WCC Freshman Team member last season, saw her first action for Pepperdine this afternoon

The Waves are home next week, hosting the Seattle Redhawks Saturday, Oct. 3 at noon. The match, slated as the Vamos Olas, will recognize Hispanic Heritage Month, and will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available at www.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 24 winning seasons, Ward has proven he can lead consistently with excellence, garnering an overall record of 323-160-79.
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