SPOKANE, Wash. – No. 13 Pepperdine held on for a 4-3 road win over Gonzaga women's soccer at Luger Field Saturday.
The Waves (8-2-2, 2-0-0 West Coast Conference) held off GU behind a hat trick from Tori Waldeck. The Zags'
Paige Alexander scored a pair of goals.
Pepperdine outshot the Bulldogs 19-8, with an 8-4 shots on goal advantage. The Waves possessed the ball for 58 percent of the match and had a 6-3 edge in corner kicks.
Waldeck opened the scoring in the 11
th minute, before Alexander equalized in the 18
th minute off a header.
Marissa Garcia and
Emelia Warta were credited with assists on the Alexander goal.
After two goals in the first half, the teams exploded for a combined five goals in the second half. The Zags (5-6-1, 1-2-0 WCC) took a 2-1 lead in the 60
th minute after Alexander stole a ball from a Wave defender and then curled in a looping shot to the far post. It was her fourth goal of the season.
In the 66
th minute, Waldeck kicked in a loose ball in the box to even the score. Five minutes later, Tatum Wynalda used the outside of her foot to strike in Pepperdine's third goal off passes from Tabitha LaParl and Kyra Murphy. Waldeck scored her sixth goal of the season in the 73
rd minute.
The Zags'
Chelsea Le capped off the scoring with a strike from distance in the 79
th minute.
Lauren Towne made four saves for the Bulldogs, while Jillian Medvecky had one save in the Pepperdine net.
The Bulldogs remain at home and host Saint Mary's (4-5-2, 1-1-1) next Saturday at 6 p.m. The Gaels tied Oregon State Saturday, 0-0. Next Saturday's match will be broadcast on ESPN Plus, with live stats on GoZags.com.
