No. 15 'Lopes Remain Perfect at Home with 2-0 Defeat of Dominican

Saturday, October 13

Phoenix, AZ

5:45 PM

Grand Canyon

Dominican

Alberto Sanchez Garcia

Photo by: Darryl Webb

No. 15 'Lopes Remain Perfect at Home with 2-0 Defeat of Dominican

10/13/2012 10:40:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Complete homestand with 5-0 record

The 15^th-ranked Grand Canyon University men’s soccer team defeated Dominican (CA), 2-0, tonight on the GCU Soccer Field. The Antelopes improved to 11-2-0 overall and 8-1-0 in the Pacific West Conference, while the Penguins fell to 7-5-0 overall and 3-5-0 in conference play.

The win was the seventh straight for the ‘Lopes, as they also improved to a perfect 8-0 at home while wrapping up their five-game homestand with a 5-0 record. It was the fourth shutout for GCU this season and their second straight, as they also blanked Hawai’i Pacific on Tuesday (1-0).

“The guys did what they needed to do to win the game tonight,” said head coach Petar Draksin. “I am very proud of the young men and what they have accomplished thus far in the season. Dominican is a well-coached team and they were organized. They were doing the right things to try to surprise us and fortunately, that did not happen.”

GCU outshot the visiting Penguins, 28-15, and also held the advantage in shots on goal, 8-2.

The two teams played to a scoreless tie in the first half despite the ‘Lopes collecting 16 shots, compared to six for the Penguins. GCU placed five of those shots on goal, but they were stopped by Dominican goalkeeper Erik Anderson.

“The back four tonight were great – Zoran Nincevic, Jamiesh Holait, Chris Green and Brian Green were fantastic,” Draksin said. “Joshua Zehring also had some great saves in goal to keep the clean sheet.”

The ‘Lopes offense found their rhythm in the second half, placing three of their 12 shots on goal and putting a crooked number on the scoreboard to avoid extra minutes.

GCU got on the board first with a sliding goal off the foot of Alberto Sanchez Garcia in the 58^th minute. Adam Finnefrock provided the assist from the right side of the box.

The ‘Lopes cushioned their lead when Saeed Robinson found the back of the net on a long assist from goalkeeper Zehring in the 77^th minute.

“We are going to keep fighting and keep battling,” added Draksin. “We are going to get to practice on turf and get ready for Dixie State. We are just going to keep working at it.”

GCU will now embark on a quick road trip to St. George, Utah to take on Dixie State on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. (Arizona time). They will then return home for a game next Saturday against the Red Storm at 5:45 p.m. on the GCU Soccer Field.

GCU 2, DUC 0