Taylor Bird
Assistant Sports Editor
The Pepperdine women’s soccer team split a pair of home overtime matches last weekend, as it bested Iowa 1-0 on Friday to notch its first victory of the season before falling 3-2 to Northwestern on Sunday.
On Friday, the Waves (1-3-1) dominated play throughout regulation, posting a 16-2 shot advantage and preventing the Hawkeyes (2-2) from placing a single shot on frame.
However, Iowa goalkeepers Kali Feiereisel and Emily Moran each picked up four saves to contain the Pepperdine offensive attack and send the game into overtime.
The Waves wasted no time in scoring the game-winner. Just 3:38 into overtime, senior forward Amanda Rupp rushed toward a pair of Hawkeye defenders and, from 12 yards out, managed to arc the ball over Moran and into the heart of the net for her second goal of the season and a 1-0 Pepperdine victory.
“We got our first win, which was important,” said Waves’ Head Coach Tim Ward. “The way we did it in overtime was exciting. That was the best soccer we’ve played all year.”
The Waves appeared to carry their momentum into the first half of Sunday’s match against Northwestern (3-2). In the 12th minute, senior forward Emily Wynne passed the ball from the far side of the goal to freshman forward Laura Cole, who knocked it into the net, giving the Waves an early 1-0 edge.
Later in the half, Rupp connected with Wynne’s rebound shot at 36:14 and snuck it past Wildcats goalkeeper Carolyn Edwards for Pepperdine’s biggest lead of the season, at 2-0. The Waves out-shot the Wildcats 10-3 in the first period and looked to be in good shape at halftime.
But, Northwestern got on the board at 55:38, when forward Sam Greene’s free kick reflected off forward Jenny Dunn before midfielder Emily Langston redirected it into the net.
About 10 minutes later, in the 66th minute, an impressive diagonal shot by Dunn from the left sideline evaded the reach of Pepperdine senior goalkeeper Kayla Stolte and knotted the score at two.
The Waves suffered a setback in the second half, when Stolte was removed from the game with an injury shortly after Northwestern’s second goal. She was replaced by freshman Lacey Heck, who served as goalkeeper for the match’s final 24 minutes. Ward said he hopes Stole will be ready to play by this weekend.
Northwestern’s game-winning goal came less than four minutes into overtime, when Laura Janowitch crossed the ball to Alicia Herczeg, who punched it into the net from the near post, capping off a 3-2 comeback win.
Although the team has faced some hard times in the early stages of the season, junior forward Alexis Farler said the slow start has shown the players their true abilities.
“I think we’re really learning our lessons and seeing what our strengths are,” she said.
The Waves will wrap up their seven-game homestand this weekend, as they will host No. 25-ranked Tennessee (2-3) tomorrow at 3 p.m. and Washington State (1-1-3) on Saturday at 1 p.m.
“This team has a lot of fight in it,” Ward said. “Even though our schedule is very difficult and very demanding, we expect great things. We feel like we can beat anybody on any given day.”
09-11-2008