The Horned Frogs soccer team scored two goals in the final 10 minutes of action, but fell to No. 9 Pepperdine, 3-2, Friday at Garvey-Rosenthal stadium.Freshman defender K.D Waters said Pepperdine was not on the top of its game during the match.

“We saw OK Pepperdine — they’re ranked (ninth) – we can play against them and try to win,” Waters said. “Today, we just felt, let’s just do it. Let’s just try.”

Although the Frogs were unable to score in the first half, TCU forced Pepperdine goalie Anna Picarelli to make six saves. The Frogs sent three other balls wide or high of the goal.

TCU goalie Katy Buchanan saved three of five shots in the opening 45 minutes, allowing two goals in a 6:19 span. The first Pepperdine score was off a corner kick, sneaking into the back left corner of the goal at the 26:05 mark, while the second goal resulted from a two-on-one breakaway at 32:24 into the game.

“We stayed compact and put them under pressure,” head coach Dan Abdalla said.

Senior defender Moran Lavi said playing together as a unit was an important element against Pepperdine’s powerful defense.

“We just focused on staying connected and forcing them back towards their own goal,” Lavi said. “(We stayed) behind them, not letting them get in behind us.”

In the second half, with neither team able to establish a rhythm, the game took an aggressive turn. Pepperdine was charged with 20 fouls total, 13 in the second half. TCU was charged with six fouls for the match, two in the second half and a yellow card on junior midfielder Karissa Hill.

Abdalla and Waters agreed that an aggressive approach favors TCU because fitness is one of the team’s top priorities. With the score 3-0 Pepperdine and 10 minutes remaining, the Frogs used that fitness to re-energize the game and score two unanswered goals.

Following a blocked penalty kick attempt by freshman midfielder Caroline Starns, Hill and Starns put heavy pressure on the Pepperdine defense. They got the ball to Lavi, who scored on second-half goalie Kathryn Cumming unassisted off the rebound.

After a high shot on goal by K.D. Waters with 5:24 to go, she got another opportunity to blast the net just two minutes later and scored, closing the gap to one goal.

Lavi attempted to tie the game at 3 with 1:20 on the clock, but the ball bounced off the crossbar.

Waters said the team was prepared to play the ninth-ranked Waves.

“We do a lot of fitness,” Waters said. “We really worked hard this week. We’re all sore, but we just wanted it, and we had nothing to lose”

Abdalla said he believes the girls were rewarded for their efforts, saying fitness was the main factor in staging the late rally.

“Our fitness helped out in the end and provided pressure for us to get some goals,” Abdalla said.

The Frogs will hit the field again at 7 p.m. Friday against the Rice Owls in Houston.