JANE LEE
Assistant Sports Editor
The Pepperdine women’s club lacrosse team outshot Occidental 36 to 17 and never trailed in the contest en route to a dominating 21-9 win over the Tigers on Saturday at Alumni Park.
The Waves (1-0), who controlled the ball for the better part of the game, jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first 10 minutes and would leave the field at halftime with a 15-6 lead.
In the second half, Pepperdine’s offense slowed during the final minutes of play, but its defense would remain unstoppable as the Lions (0-1) were only allowed three more goals.
“We were patient on offense, and our midfielders and attackers actively chased down the ball in transition, which didn’t give Occidental much chance to run a settled offense,” said freshman attacker Annie McKinley, who scored three goals and had two assists in the game.
The Waves, who were missing three starters due to injury and illness, received goals from seven different players throughout the match.
Sophomore Alexis Padis led all scorers with eight goals and also aided with three assists. Also leading the way with Padis, who scored all six of her goals in the first half, was Katie Bickert. The sophomore midfielder scored four of her five goals in the first half and grabbed game-high honors with four assists.
Pepperdine freshman goalkeeper Audrey Donaldson faced only nine shots in about 45 minutes of action, saving four of them for 44.4 percent.
McKinley said her team had mixed feelings about the win, which was a reversal of the past year’s opener when the Tigers won 9-4.
“It was a good showing for our first regular-season game but there’s definitely room for improvement,” she said.
Up next for the Waves is a home game against Loyola Marymount at noon Saturday.
“Hopefully some of our players that were out because of injury and sickness will get healthy and our team will be able to gel on the field,” McKinley said.
02-16-2006
