Women’s Soccer
Noah Godwin
Assistant Sports Editor
Pepperdine’s six senior soccer players will finish their careers without ever missing the NCAA Tournament.
This was welcome news for the Waves who had to wait for an at-large bid after finishing the season with a 9-6-3 record.
“It was definitely a surprise, but we have no doubt that we belong in the tournament,” freshman McKenzie Hill said.
Pepperdine’s reward for fighting through one of the toughest schedules in the nation will be playing at No. 14 national seed UCLA.
The Bruins beat the Waves earlier this season 1-0 in a highly physical and competitive match.
“We were definitely in that game, and I know everybody is excited to play the game,” Hill said.
Pepperdine drew the same match-up last in the first round of last year’s tournament, and the Bruins bested the Waves 2-0.
“In preparing for this match, Coach Ward hasn’t changed his approach at all, and he just keeps asking us to work hard,” Hill said.
Fellow WCC member University of San Diego will also play its first-match at UCLA, but the Toreros will face UNLV. Both San Diego and UNLV also earned at-large bids.
The tournament is single-elimination, so the winner of the Pepperdine/UCLA contest will play the winner of San Diego/UNLV.
UCLA leads the all-time series against Pepperdine 7-2, including a 2-0 record in matches played in the NCAA Tournament.
UCLA is 13-6-0 on the season and tied with University of Arizona for the Pacific-10 Conference championship. Pepperdine’s biggest challenge will be containing sophomore forward Bristyn Davis, who has scored 12 goals and tallied 5 assists this season.
Pepperdine’s six seniors, midfielders Jenna Ainsworth, April Pettigrew, Maytal Shvartz, forward Ali Pavoni and defenders Diana Sanguinetti and Ashley Swanson have compiled a record of 53-19-9 (.632), won one conference title and appeared in the Top 25 all four years.
Pepperdine’s at-large bid is a testament to the strength of the West Coast Conference.
Pepperdine won only one match against a conference opponent, finishing with a 1-4-2 record, good for seventh place in the WCC.
“We didn’t always get the results we wanted, but we had a chance to win every match,” Hill said.
The Waves concluded the regular season with a 1-0 loss to No. 4 Santa Clara University. The Broncos marked the sixth team that is currently ranked in the Top 25 that Pepperdine has faced this season.
Santa Clara senior forward Bree Horvath scored just four minutes after the start of the second half to propel the Broncos to the victory.
The goal came following a substitution that brought freshman Brittany Klein into the match for Santa Clara. Klein promptly controlled the ball and found Megan Kakadelas.
Kakadelas advanced the ball and passed to Horvath who was only 10 yards from the front of the net.
Horvath sent the shot to the top left corner, out of the reach of junior goalkeeper Anna Picarelli.
Santa Clara held a 7-5 advantage in shots and had opportunities to score on almost every one of the 10 corner kicks it took.
“I know UCLA got the best of us last season, but we’re all focused on turning the tables and getting it back this year,” Hill said.
11-11-2004
