TAYLOR BIRD
Sports Assistant
The Waves’ offensive exploded for five goals as the Pepperdine women’s soccer team defeated West Coast Conference rival St. Mary’s Sunday with a lopsided 5-1 score. This victory completed Pepperdine’s first home sweep of the season and improved the team’s record to 5-6-6 overall and 2-2-1 in conference play.
The Waves’ first three goals came in the first half. In the 5th minute of play, freshman midfielder Nicole Romanowski poked the ball in after a header from junior defender Ashley Copp rebounded off the crossbar.
In the 35th minute, sophomore forward Alexis Farler passed the ball to her right to senior midfielder Mckenzie Hill, who knocked the ball into the back of the net from about 25 feet away.
Junior forward Amanda Rupp contributed a goal in the 39th minute, kicking it into the net after the ball ricocheted off St. Mary’s goalkeeper Tara Larson to give Pepperdine a 3-0 edge at halftime.
The Waves went up 4-0 in the 66th minute on freshman forward Sage Coralli’s first collegiate goal. St. Mary’s finally got on the board in the 84th minute, courtesy of an unassisted goal by midfielder Jessica Menzhuber that launched over the head of Waves’ senior goalkeeper Katie Rokus.
But Pepperdine still had some fight in them as the clock ticked down. With just seven seconds left in the match, sophomore midfielder Joanna Idom snuck a ball past Larson to give her team a 5-1 lead.
“Anybody that saw the game [Sunday] saw a really good soccer team,” said Waves’ Head Coach Tim Ward. “This team can play, and the good news is the playing resulted in goals today.”
The Waves tallied 27 total shots and put 18 on goal.
“It was a great game,” she said. “We just wailed on this team and it feels good. We’ve been working hard. It’s good for us because we need to win the rest of our games, and we will.”
Pepperdine will play its final home game of the season next Sunday, Nov. 4 versus No. 6-ranked Portland at 1 p.m.
10-28-2007
