They’ve done it. Pepperdine Women’s Soccer are West Coast Conference Champions.
For the fifth time in program history, the Waves hoisted the WCC Trophy after a dominant 3-0 win over the University of San Francisco Dons on Nov. 9 at Tari Frahm Rokus Field. All five titles were secured under Head Coach Tim Ward.
Ward said he feels like he should’ve won more titles, securing five so far in a 27-year career with Pepperdine. However, when he takes a step back to compare the strength of the soccer conference to other programs on campus, he realizes just how much he has accomplished with the Waves.
“When you start to look at it through that lens, I’m really, really proud of our women and our program,” Ward said. “We’re in one of the top five or six soccer conferences in the United States, and we compete with the big boys and girls every year, and that’s what makes it that much more special to do it.”
Past Heartbreak But Recent Redemption
The last time the Waves clinched the title was in 2017.
Graduate midfielder/forward Tori Waldeck has been a part of this team since 2020, desperately trying to reclaim the title for Pepperdine. In her first four years, she watched another team hoist the WCC Trophy three times — but in her fifth year, she finally brought it back home.
Waldeck said that those losses were not fun, but she learned so much from them, and she used everything she learned to finally lift that trophy over her head.
“It means the world to me,” Waldeck said. “I came back for my fifth year, and I came back wanting something like this. I’m so proud of the girls and our team for putting in the work in the off-season, pre-season and this season.”
She said Women’s Soccer was on a redemption tour, especially after losing the championship game on their home field last season.
“This year, being able to win it on our home field just brings the story all together,” Waldeck said.
The dreadful feelings of the losses resonate with all returners to this team, like junior midfielder/forward Tatum Wynalda. Over her three-year career for the Waves, she’s spent the last two just like Waldeck, watching a celebration from the sidelines.
“Being able to finally be the one to hoist the trophy is just an incomparable feeling, and I think it’s the culmination of so much hard work,” Wynalda said. “The blood, sweat and tears that truly goes on behind the scenes, nobody sees that, and for us to have that moment of relief and joy, it’s awesome.”
Unlike some of the players, Ward said revenge isn’t a word he would use to describe this win because, in his eyes, every Wave that steps onto the field is a champion.
“Whether we pick up a trophy, you’re champs,” Ward said. “The way you conduct yourself, the discipline you show daily, the way you wake up and get after it, everybody sees them walking by. We’re at it every day, and so they’re champions, whether we have a trophy to prove it.”
Relief is the word he used to describe his fifth WCC title.
“It feels a bit like relief because a year ago, it felt tight, like we were, ‘Let’s not lose it,'” Ward said. “Where this year was like, ‘Let’s go win it,’ completely different energies, a completely different mindset and that starts with our ability as a program.”
The Road To Champions
The journey to becoming champions was a long one, Ward said.
After suffering a tough loss against the Gonzaga University Bulldogs last year, Ward and the Waves took time to reset, as anybody would, he said. That time was used to recalibrate their minds, to think about that loss, and to consider what it meant to suffer that heartbreak.
“Then, starting in January, in our locker room, the very first message on the very first day was a little bit about ‘We have some unfinished business,'” Ward said. “[In] everything we do, even on those days we’re not feeling great, or the days we’re feeling tired or not disciplined, if we can just show up and have our aim directed at the right place with the right heart, we felt like something special was possible — and lo and behold, here we are with that fifth trophy.”
All sources said the season itself was unexpected, but for the players, winning the title seemed almost unachievable at times.
“I don’t know how it happened or how the Lord made it happen, but there was three times this season that we thought, ‘Unfortunately, it might not be possible for us this year,’” Wynalda said. “But we never stopped believing.”
But Wynalda said she knew from the beginning this team was different and had what it takes to win the conference. In addition to an overall sense of belief, she said this team has a level of grittiness that last year’s team didn’t necessarily have.
The team experienced many slow starts this year, but the Waves fought back every game, and she said that fight mentality is what made this year so special. But most importantly, this team had no egos.
“If you look at our stat sheet, they speak for themselves. We have so many different goal scorers, so many different people assisting,” Wynalda said. “We don’t really care who gets the accolades, whatever, because we’re just doing it for each other.”
As a leader on this team, Waldeck took it upon herself to lead by example, with not just her words, but through her actions.
“As a leader, you just show up every day, put in the work, and be an example,” Waldeck said. “The things you do day in and day out can be translated when those younger girls are like, ‘Oh, our seniors and our fifth years, they’re all doing this, we need to follow suit.'”
The leadership on this year’s team is what Ward noticed the most, and what he believes was a big factor in what made this year’s team champions.
He said success goes beyond game days; that is just the tip of the iceberg. A real team and culture is built behind the scenes, on the training pitch, in the locker room and on the road.
“The way our seniors have led and loved their teammates, their sisters and brothers we say, absolutely first-class stuff that will never show up on a stat sheet,” Ward said.
Winning For Pepperdine And God
Faith is a big part of Women’s Soccer, all sources said.
“We feel like it was providential and a divine appointment with that trophy this year,” Ward said.
Ward didn’t attend school at Pepperdine, but Pepperdine is his family, he said. His wife, Shelby, is an alumna (’97) and former soccer student-athlete, and his oldest son, Nathaniel, is currently a senior.
Being able to win another title for this school meant everything to him, but winning it for God made it that much sweeter.
“I just feel like God orchestrated this thing for us this year, and He just continually reminds us that all things are possible for those who believe and just remain faithful,” Ward said. “Who knew what was going to happen this year? We knew what we knew wanted to happen this year, but for it to actually transpire the way it did, it is not a coincidence.”
For Waldeck, she said she couldn’t have done this without the Lord.
“He really is the one who gets us over that hurdle,” Waldeck said.
Looking Ahead
The Waves support a cast of young stars: 10 freshmen, one redshirt, and six sophomores, three redshirts.
Following the conclusion of this season, Wynalda will be entering her senior campaign, and she said this young cast of rising stars around her is something to keep an eye out for next year.
“Our team is so young, which is why it’s so exciting for next year because there is a good amount of the people playing for us right now who are going to be on the field next year,” Wynalda said. “That’s just so exciting that we get to carry this momentum in from this year to the next year.”
But the Waves are not done yet. Riding off the wave of their conference championship, Women’s Soccer will host the first round of the NCAA Championships against the University of California, Berkeley on Nov. 16.
“[We] just use the energy and the passion, and even what we learned from winning a championship on Saturday,” Waldeck said. “We played Pepperdine Soccer, and we know when we play Pepperdine Soccer, we can be successful.”
No matter what happens as the Waves’ season continues, one thing is certain: the 2024 Women’s Soccer squad is West Coast Conference Champions, and history can never erase that.
“It feels really good to just have that piece of hardware for the rest of your life, and in perhaps one of the most competitive seasons of WCC Women’s Soccer with the addition of Oregon State and Washington State,” Ward said. “We can sort of point back and say, ‘You know what? We picked up the championship for the first time in history with the new conference alignment,’ and that’s something that nobody will ever be able to take away.”
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Email Justin Rodriguez: justin.rodriguez@pepperdine.edu
