No. 13 Pepperdine Women’s Soccer kicked off conference play against Washington State University at Tari Frahm Rokus Field on Oct. 2.
Pepperdine ended non-conference play with a 6-2-2 record, including wins against UCLA and No. 20 Georgetown University, and faced a Washington State University Cougars squad coming in with a 4-3-3 record and a 1-0 conference record.
In a close battle with the Cougars, Pepperdine saw themselves fall behind at halftime but pulled through in the second half to give them their first conference win of the season. Head coach Tim Ward emphasized the importance of countering Washington’s press to give the Waves the win.
“I think Washington state specifically is really, really good pressing team defensively. They’re one of the better teams in the country at defending,” Ward said. “We felt the key to that was switching the point on them.”
Pepperdine started the game strong, controlling possession against high pressure applied by the Cougars. The Waves were able to establish possession and control early in the game and found offensive success because of it.
Around the ninth minute of the game, the Waves offensive threat continued and they won a corner. Although the cross that followed didn’t directly lead to a goal, the ball stayed in a threatening area and graduate midfielder/forward Tori Waldeck capitalized.
Waldeck struck the ball into the left side of the net and put the Waves up 1-0, giving Waldeck her third goal of the season.
Shortly after the Waves’ goal, the Cougars went on the attack. Washington capitalized off of an error from the Waves defense, giving them control of the ball in a position of real danger for the Waves.
In the 13th minute of the match, the Cougars took a shot toward goal and as freshman goalkeeper Jillian Medvecky dove one way, a deflection from the Waves sent the ball the other way, giving the Cougars their first goal of the match.
In the 25th minute, the Cougars were able to beat Pepperdine’s defense once again and took a 2-1 lead.
“I thought we started beautifully. I really did,” Ward said. “Then we sort of got a little bit, I don’t want to say complacent, but we just uncharacteristically gave away what we’d call soft goals.”
Washington held the Waves off for the rest of the half as Pepperdine entered halftime trailing by one goal, looking to turn the game up back in their favor.
The Waves came out strong in the second half, immediately providing a scoring opportunity. Within the first 30 seconds of the half, the Waves were passing the ball around Washington’s half leading to a promising shot that bounced off the crossbar and down onto the floor.
The Cougars weren’t safe for long, and within the next 30 seconds, Pepperdine looked dangerous on the attack, sending a through ball that forced Washington’s goalkeeper to come out and take control.
The Waves had already began the momentum shift, but the identity of the whole match shifted in the 50th minute when Cougars junior defender Peyton Price saw her second yellow card of the game.
This booking saw the Waves play the rest of the match with a matchup advantage of 11 players to 10, which Pepperdine capitalized on right away.
Pepperdine adjusted to Washington’s red card by finding the open spaces in the field. The Waves kept control of the game through possession, staying patient and playing their game.
“I think we all just knew that the switch was on and finding the open lanes down the side, and so we were just able to build one two in the middle,” sophomore defender Peyton Leonard said.
In the 56th minute of the match, redshirt sophomore midfielder Kyra Murphy was closing in on a chance to score until she was fouled in the box. The referee signaled for a penalty kick to be given in favor of Pepperdine.
Senior midfielder Caroline Coleman stepped up the penalty spot and scored for the Waves, equalizing the match with a third of the game still left to be played.
“I think we just trust each other and trust how we play and what what we need to do to get the win,” Waldeck said. “So we just kind of look at each other and say, ‘Hey, we got this. Let’s go and grind through it.'”
The Waves stayed persistent in the attack, looking for the go ahead goal, coming close a few times.
In the 62nd minute, graduate defender/forward Megan Edelman crossed the ball into the box, and junior midfielder/forward Tatum Wynalda’s scored with a header that landed in the left side of the net, her first goal of the season.
The Waves had less than 30 minutes to keep their lead. Pepperdine did well to take advantage of Washington’s red card keeping possession and controlling the game to their standards.
The Waves were able to stand their ground on defense and keep the scoreboard still until the end of the 90 minutes, and Pepperdine enjoyed a home win in their first WCC match of the season.
Leonard spoke about what the Waves are hoping to carry from this win into their next game.
“The energy, the finishing we’ve had so many people score goals,” Leonard said. “Just continuing to bring the attack to every game that we play in and knowing that our teammates are going to pull through.”
With this win, Pepperdine extended their undefeated streak to seven games, and continued conference play with a trip to Spokane, Washington against Gonzaga University on Oct. 5 at Luger Field.
Pepperdine won against Gonzaga 4-3, improving to a 2-0 conference record.
The Waves next game comes against Santa Clara University on Oct. 9 at Tari Frahm Rokus Field.
__________________
Follow the Graphic on X: @PeppGraphic
Email Nick Charkhedian: nareg.charkhedian@pepperdine.edu
