The UC Santa Barbara women’s soccer team hung close early and outplayed Pepperdine at times, but in the end the Gauchos couldn’t hold off the No. 8 scoring offense in the country in a 3-0 defeat at Harder Stadium on Thursday.
Pepperdine (4-0-1) kept the Gauchos under pressure throughout the first half.
The Waves started to get UCSB goalkeeper Evann Smith more and more involved as the opening half wore on. They got down to the byline and forced Smith off her line to make a diving stop on a low cross. Two deep shots soon followed to test Smith’s gloves, providing rather routine saves.
Then, in the 42nd minute, the Waves finally broke through. Freshman midfielder Tatum Wynalda showed off her quickness and sent a searching ball into some open space in the box. Midfielder Tabitha LaParl came flying through to trap it off the bounce with a right-footed volley, placing it right on target and in off of Smith’s gloves.
Coming out of halftime, the Gauchos looked like a completely different team. Some players off the bench provided great energy as UCSB started to outplay the visitors, forcing some mistakes from their defense and finding possession with numbers forward. The Gauchos got their first shot on frame with a header by Samantha Christie in the 58th minute.
Unfortunately, UCSB couldn’t find an equalizer before a mistake in the 71st minute set up Pepperdine’s Tori Waldeck with a one-on-one situation that she buried into the right side of the net, doubling the Waves’ lead. In the 88th minute, Pepperdine added another with a solo effort from forward Leyla McFarland who made it 3-0 with a deep left-footed strike.