Pepperdine Takes Care of Arizona 2-1

by Rachel Caton

September 7, 2012

TEMPE, Ariz. – The No. 10 Pepperdine women’s soccer team’s two first half goals held through a late Arizona push, as the Waves defeated the Wildcats 2-1 on Friday afternoon at Arizona State’s Sun Devil Desert Classic.

The Waves (5-1) saw goals from Katie Gallanes (Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza HS) and Anisa Guajardo (Clovis, Calif./Buchanan HS) as the Waves put the offensive pressure on the Wildcats (2-3), outshooting them 19-10.

In only their second game away from Tari Frahm Rokus Field this season, the Waves wasted no time getting on the board. At the 4:20 mark in the first half, Gallanes drilled a one-timer from 35 yards out that landed in upper right corner. The goal marked the junior’s first collegiate score and put the Waves up 1-0.

The Waves struck again in the 30^th minute in the first half, as Michelle Pao (Cupertino, Calif./Monta Vista HS) hit a beautiful ball on a free kick after Arizona’s Mykaylin Rosenquist’s yellow card that bounced back out to Guajardo who put away the rebound to give the Waves a 2-0 lead. The goal was Guajardo’s fourth of the season.

Senior goalkeeper Roxanne Barker (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS) made a save in the final minute of the first half to preserve the 2-0 lead going into the break.

Both Barker and Wildcat goalkeeper Gabby Kaufman had two saves apiece in the first half, but the Waves outshot the Wildcats 7-5.

The Waves came out firing in the second half, with shots by senior midfielder Callie Payetta (Huntington Beach, Calif./Huntington Beach HS) and sophomore forward Lynn Williams (Fresno, Calif./Bullard HS) within the first eight minutes of the half.

Barker made her lone save of the second half on a shot from Arizona’s Candi Osei-Agyemang at the 53:48 mark.

The Waves tightened up their defense and continued to force things on the offensive end, as they racked up 12 shots to the Wildcats’ five in the half. The Waves also drew eight corner kicks in the second half alone, a season-high.

However, the Wildcats were not going to go down without a fight, and at the 89:07 mark drew a corner kick. After the kick the ball came out to Ana-Maria Montoya, who had the assist to Julia Glanz after she finished the lone Wildcats’ goal with the clock at 89:16 in the game to make it 2-1.

The Waves shored things up through the final 44 seconds and pulled out the 2-1 victory, their sixth win of the season.

Pepperdine will next face tournament host Arizona State at 1:30 p.m. PT on Sunday, Sept. 9.