The squad claimed the conference title with their 3-0 victory over visiting San Francisco on Nov. 9
The Pepperdine Waves women’s soccer team closed their regular season as West Coast Conference co-champions.
The squad claimed the conference title with their 3-0 victory over the San Francisco Dons on Nov. 9 at Pepperdine’sTari Frahm Rokus Field.
Waves midfielder and forward Tori Waldeck, a graduate student, said winning the WCC crown was amazing.
“All glory to God,” she said. “He really got us through this. We couldn’t have done it without Him. I’m really grateful.”
Waldeck said heading into the season, winning the conference was a team goal.
“We knew this team was special,” she said. “We had the grit, the fight, the passion, the attitude every Pepperdine team has had in the past, if not more. We trusted each other from the beginning to get here.”
The victory qualified the Waves for the 43rd NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship. Pepperdine is the seventh seed in its bracket in the 64-team field and will host California on Saturday at 12 p.m.
Whoever wins the first-round matchup will play the winner of Arkansas/Oklahoma State in the next round.
The Waves are sharing the WCC crown with the Santa Clara Broncos, who beat Saint Mary’s 3-0 on the same day to stake their claim to of the league title also. Both teams have a 6-1-3 record in the conference. Pepperdine has a 12-3-5 overall record.
Pepperdine’s conference championship comes just over a year after a regular-season finale loss to the Gonzaga Bulldogs regulated the Waves to second place in the league standings. The team had to watch the Bulldogs celebrate winning the WCC crown on the field in Malibu.
Pepperdine’s players celebrated this year.
The squad was presented the conference championship trophy by a WCC official. Once the trophy was in the Waves’hands they only let it go to pass to each to pose for pictures and videos.
There was also a WCC championship placard passed around as the players hugged, danced, cheered, and shouted,“Let’s go!” while holding up a first-place finger.
They were adorned in white WCC titlist hats and T-shirts.
Waldeck, the reigning WCC Player of the Year, said the group held onto the disappointment of losing the crown to Gonzaga last season.
“We took it and put it in the back of our minds for a game like this, for a season like this,” she admitted.
The team’s head coach, Tim Ward, was doused with a celebratory bucket of ice water amidst the celebration. Before the championship shower, Ward, who has coached the Waves to five conference crowns during his 27 seasons as head coach, noted how talented all 11 teams in the WCC are.
“Everybody was good,” he noted. “We showed a lot of resilience. To only lose one game in our entire conference slate was remarkable.”
Ward explained that the previous three seasons, he and his team had to watch opponents celebrate ending the season as league champions.
“Two of those three times, we thought we could win it but didn’t — especially last year,” he recalled. “For us, we called this ‘The Redemption Tour.’”
Last summer, the head coach said he and the squad’s other coaches made the Waves watch a film about USA Basketball’s 2008 “Redeem Team.”
“All year we talked about how we were on a redemption tour,” Ward said. “We felt this was something this team deserved and could achieve, but no one was going to give it to us. It is special.”
Against the Dons, redshirt junior Tabitha LaParl, a midfielder and forward, found the back of the net first for the Waves. LaParl’s scoring kick happened around four minutes into the contest. Midfielder Kyra Murphy, a redshirt sophomore, scored in the game’s 57th minute and junior Tatum Wynalda, a midfielder and forward, scored Pepperdine’s final goal with 77 minutes on the clock.
“The girls played beautifully,” Ward said. “Some great goals.”
Freshman goalkeeper Jillian Medvecky had one save for Pepperdine.
The Waves began conference play on Oct. 2 with a 3-2 win over Washington State. They then beat Gonzaga 4-3, but then tied Santa Clara 1-1. Pepperdine downed Pacific 5-0 and lost to LMU 3-0 before recording a 2-0 triumph over Portland and tying Oregon State 1-1. The Waves beat San Diego 5-1 and tied Saint Mary’s 1-1 before defeating the Dons.
The Waves, Ward said, entered the season prepared to endure their 20-game season.
“In the months of May, June, and July, when other students their age are traveling, vacationing, or partying, or doing whatever, our girls are committed to getting stronger, fitter, faster, and leading lives that are really disciplined,” he said.“Today, is why you do it. These are special days.”
Pepperdine was beaten 3-0 by Stanford in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2023.
To be successful in this year’s postseason, Waldeck said, she and her teammates need to play soccer the right way.
“Its making that run, making that save, taking that shot, laying off the ball,” she said. “Its doing every little thing for one another. It will lead to great things.”