JANE LEE
Sports Assistant
Senior forward Megan Woods scored three goals this weekend as the No.-9 Pepperdine women’s soccer team beat Texas Christian University and tied Southern Methodist University to remain unbeaten.
The Waves (6-0-1) continued their winning streak Friday afternoon when they clinched their sixth-straight win with a 3-2 victory over TCU (3-4-0) in Fort Worth, Texas.
Pepperdine took a 1-0 lead when Woods scored an unassisted goal off of a rebound at the 26:05 mark. The Waves added to their lead six minutes later when junior forward Lindsey Redlin registered a goal after Woods fed her the ball with an assist to make it 2-0.
Redlin’s goal was her fifth straight in as many matches.
The Waves made it a 3-0 game at the 68:43 mark as Woods scored her second unassisted goal of the match off of a rebound from a corner kick.
TCU fought its way back in the last minutes of the game when midfielder Moran Lavi put the Frogs on the board at the 83:35 mark with a quick turnaround shot. Just three minutes later, defender K.D. Waters shot an unassisted goal from 19 yards out to narrow Pepperdine’s lead to one, but the Waves’ defense tightened in the final minutes to secure the win.
Senior goalkeeper Anna Picarelli totaled six saves in the first half, and sophomore goalkeeper Kathryn Cumming tallied three saves as she took over in the second half.
Pepperdine out-shot TCU 27-18 but only had a 13-12 advantage in shots on goal.
“We were in total control of the game,” Head Coach Tim Ward said. “In the first 30 to 35 minutes of the second half, we played fantastic and could’ve scored a few more goals. In the last few minutes, there was just a lack of focus and the referee made some bad calls.”
Two days later in Dallas, the Waves competed against SMU (5-3-1) for 110 minutes before ending the game 1-1, the first tie for both teams this season.
Pepperdine took an early 1-0 lead at the 15:43 mark when Woods tallied her third goal of the weekend, as she scored off a header from a centering pass by junior forward Jennifer Brewer, who was credited with the assist.
Although SMU had control of the ball for most of the game, Picarelli shut out the Mustangs in the first half.
“We got an early, good goal,” Ward said, “but you could tell we were a little fatigued.”
In the second half, midfielder Autumn Browning put SMU on the board at the 60:24 mark when she headed the ball off of a corner kick into the net to make it a 1-1 game.
Offensive pressure continued from SMU before the horn sounded to end regulation time.
Picarelli, who totaled 11 saves in the game, came up big for the Waves in the first overtime period as she saved a penalty kick from forward Kimber Bailey at the 92:53 mark.
SMU dominated much of the offense throughout the game, out-shooting the Waves 24-7, including 13 shots on goal compared to just four for the Waves.
“SMU’s a very good team,” Ward said. “What most people don’t know though is that they had an extra day of rest and were able to come scout us at the Friday game.
“What’s so great is that it wasn’t our best performance, there was the heat and bad referees, yet we still hung in there and got the job done.”
Woods continued to be a vital player for Pepperdine as she moved up the record books this weekend. With seven points and three goals, she moved into fourth place all-time with 67 points and fourth place all-time with 25 goals. The one assist in Friday’s game gave her 17 for her career and moved her into a fourth-place tie.
Woods and the Waves return home Friday to face UNLV in a 3 p.m. contest.“The entire team is excited to be back in front of the home crowd,” Ward said.
09-22-2005