Ariana Salvador wins WCC Offensive Player of the Week with three goals in three games
The Pepperdine women’s soccer team scored early and often in its 5-0 victory over the Pacific Tigers on Oct. 12 at Tari Frahm Rokus Field.
The Waves notched four scores in the first half, including two kicked by redshirt junior Tabitha LaParl, a midfielder. LaParl’s freshman teammate, forward and midfielder Ariana Salvador, kicked the fourth goal of the contest, which helped her net the West Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Week award.
Pepperdine head coach Tim Ward was proud of his squad.
“From the first to the last minute, our girls were at it,” he said. “Working hard and smart for one another. Really proud of that performance and hopefully we can continue to build momentum in the games and weeks ahead.”
The victory was Pepperdine’s fifth in six games and followed the team’s 1-1 tie with Santa Clara three days earlier. Pacific and Santa Clara are WCC opponents. The Waves have a 9-2-3 overall record and 3-0-1 record in the WCC heading into their match against Loyola Marymount on Saturday.
Kendell Campbell, a redshirt sophomore forward and defender, scored first for Pepperdine against the Tigers. Campbell kicked the ball into the back of the net on a penalty kick after a handball by Pacific in the contest’s second minute.
LaParl struck four minutes later. She took a pass from sophomore defender Peyton Leonard in the box and kicked a scoring ball to give the Waves a 2-0 advantage. Then in the 29th minute, LaParl scored on a free kick from the right outside of the box to the right-hand side of the net.
Salvador kicked her goal from the right corner of the field minutes before halftime.
Midfielder Kyra Murphy, a redshirt sophomore, put Pepperdine up 5-0 when she scored on a kick from the right side of the field in the match’s 83rd minute.
Murphy has scored three goals in 2024, while LaParl, Pepperdine’s leading scorer this season, has notched five goals and one assist. Campbell has one goal this season.
Salvador scored a goal in three consecutive matches to win the WCC’s top offensive player weekly honor.
She kicked the Waves’ score in their 1-1 tie with Santa Clara on Oct. 9 and she kicked the first goal in their 3-2 victory over Washington State on Oct. 2.
Pepperdine has now won the conference’s offensive award three times this season. Leonard captured it after scoring the only goal in the Waves’ 1-0 victory over UCLA and graduate student Tori Waldeck won it earlier this month after scoring four goals in two games including a hat trick in the Waves’ 4-3 win over Gonzaga on Oct. 5.
Waldeck, a forward, was also named to Top Drawer Soccer’s National Team of the Week on Oct. 8 in the wake of her scoring barrage.
She is the first Pepperdine player to be named to the national recognition in three years. Waldeck was the first Wave to score three goals in a game since 2017.
Pepperdine outshot Pacific 17-3 in their contest, including 12-3 in shots on goal. Freshman goalkeeper Jillian Medvecky had two saves, and goalie Taylor Rath had one for the Waves.
Pepperdine is tied with Santa Clara in second place of the 11-team WCC standings. Oregon State is first. The Waves fell one victory shy of winning the league in 2023.
