Women’s Soccer scored two goals in a 2-2 draw against the University of Michigan at Tari Frahm Rokus Field on Saturday, Aug. 19. The Waves are 0-0-2 after two draws early on in the season.
The team has a theme they’re taking inspiration from for the 2023 season, said Sophomore midfielder Tatum Wynalda.
“It’s Semper Fi, which means always faithful,” Wynalda said. “We’re just working on being always faithful to our team, our program, our mission.”
The team was going to need some time to get into the rhythm that they want to be in said Head Coach Tim Ward.
“We didn’t come in maybe at the fitness levels that we would have hoped,” Ward said. “There’s just a lot of new players and a lot of young players maybe who haven’t gotten minutes in the past.”
The game began as a back-and-forth at midfield with much of the action taking place on Pepperdine’s side of the pitch. Senior Midfielder Juiliana Duckett and Freshman Forward Julia Quinonez helped to change the momentum of the first 10 minutes, but nothing came of their efforts.
“Our strength and conditioning staff does an amazing job,” Ward said. “There’s a mindset shift that has to happen.”
From the tenth minute to the 20th minute, the Waves held on with steady defense. Unfortunately, Pepperdine’s poor passes resulted in many blown opportunities down the field. Pepperdine got its first shot off in the 16th minute, thanks to Quinonez’s accurate pass, which helped raise spirits on the home side.
“First, we’re going to work on our preseason, get through our preseason, be successful in our preseason, then we’ll move on to WCC and hopefully be very successful,” Wynalda said.
The biggest moment in the first half was in the 23rd minute when senior midfielder Skylar Enge scored a goal off a penalty kick to put Pepperdine ahead 1-0.
“I was really proud of Tori [Waldeck] for getting in the box,” Enge said. “She did all the work.”
The goal was the perfect energy booster for the Waves. After the goal, they began to kick their offense into overdrive in the back minutes of the first half.
Wynalda and Waldeck each had a shot on goal but couldn’t capitalize. On top of this, sophomore defender Erin Zeile made a last-minute slide tackle to keep Michigan from scoring, which helped Pepperdine exit the half confident.
“We’ve only been together for like three weeks now,” Enge said. “So, hopefully, we just keep getting better and better.”
The struggles began for Pepperdine in the second half. Michigan scored two consecutive goals that shattered Pepperdine’s momentum, and suddenly, the team that had been dominating found itself fighting from behind.
Only four minutes later, though, Wynalda scored a goal to tie the game and give her two goals in the year so far.
Although Pepperdine took a few more shots, they couldn’t materialize any chances, and the match ended with a draw. While the team didn’t walk away with a win, Wynalda expressed how the team was taking a positive approach to the new season.
“We’re starting strong,” Wynalda said. “Those are two good opponents that we tied, and we’ve learned a lot from these games. So, we’re just gonna get better.”
The Waves play their next game at San Diego State on Aug. 24.
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Email Joseph Heinemann: joe.heinemann@pepperdine.edu
