LA JOLLA, Calif. – Pepperdine scored a goal in the tenth minute and made it stand up as the No. 17 Waves out-lasted host UC San Diego, 1-0, at Triton Soccer Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Pepperdine improved to 2-0 on the season with the victory while the Tritons dropped to 0-2.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Waves scored early, taking a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute. After
Keara Fitzgerald made a save, Pepperdine's Leyla McFarland corralled the rebound and put it into the back of the net to put the visitors on top.
Coming off an eight-goal outburst in Thursday's season opener, the Waves continued to apply pressure. Pepperdine out-shot UC San Diego 9-1 in the first half, but the Tritons managed to stifle the Waves' attack over the final 35-plus minutes of the half.
As the second half got underway, Pepperdine continued to apply pressure, and UC San Diego's back line stood tall. The Waves had a breakaway in the 59th minute but
Kate Hottinger made a terrific play on the ball, giving up a corner but keeping the visitors out of the net.
In the 65th minute, UC San Diego junior forward
Kennedy Carter got a quality shot attempt, but Pepperdine keeper Taylor Rath made the stop to keep her team in front.
The Waves held a 15-3 advantage in shots and a 7-4 edge in corner kicks.
QUOTABLE | Head Coach Kristin Jones '04
QUOTABLE | GK Keara Fitzgerald
TRITON TIDBITS
- Sunday marked the second-ever meeting between the Waves and Tritons. Pepperdine, ranked 13th at the time, earned a 4-1 victory in Malibu last season.
- Freshman back Talisa Lin made her first career start for the Tritons.
- Fitzgerald was credited with five saves for UC San Diego, giving her 11 through the team's first two matches.
UP NEXT
The Tritons hit the road for a pair of matches next week. UC San Diego will play at Cal (Aug. 28, 4pm) and Northern Arizona (Aug. 30, 7pm). Live video and stats links for those matches can be found on UCSDTritons.com.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.
