No. 8 Men's Soccer Plays to 1-1 Tie at California Baptist

Saturday, October 27

Riverside, CA

12:30 PM

Grand Canyon

Cal Baptist

Joshua Zehring

Photo by: Darryl Webb

No. 8 Men's Soccer Plays to 1-1 Tie at California Baptist

10/27/2012 3:16:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Claim at least a share of PacWest crown

The eighth-ranked Grand Canyon University men’s soccer team tied California Baptist, 1-1, today in Riverside, Calif. The tie halted a streak of 10 straight wins for the Antelopes, who are now 14-2-1 overall and 11-1-1 in the Pacific West Conference. The Lancers, who also snapped a four-game win streak, are now 11-3-2 overall and 9-2-1 in conference play.

With the tie, the ‘Lopes claimed at least a share of the PacWest Conference crown, their fifth in seven seasons as members of the conference. Notre Dame de Namur is three points behind GCU with one game to play and California Baptist is six points behind with two games remaining. A win or tie for GCU in their final game will give them the outright championship. The ‘Lopes won the conference title in 2007, 2009 and 2010 and co-champs in 2006, to make GCU the lone school in the conference with five titles.

“We knew coming into today’s game that it was going to be a hard fought contest,” said head coach Petar Draksin. “California Baptist is a very good program, they compete hard and I knew it was going to be no easy task. But if you have the heart of a champion, anything is possible and our guys showed that today.”

The Lancers led the way with 18 shots, eight of which were one goal, while the ‘Lopes collected 14 shots and placed six of those on goal.

The two teams were on the defense for most of the first half, as they combined for just five shots over the first 30 minutes of the contest. GCU got on the board first when Brandon Hansen was assisted by Adam Finnefrock from about 30 yards out in the 33^rd minute.

The ‘Lopes were narrowly outshot by the Lancers in the first 45 minutes, 5-4, as GCU goalkeeper Joshua Zehring saved four of those shots.

California Baptist controlled much of the offense in the second half and evened the score with a penalty kick goal in the 73^rd minute. Neither team would score again in the second half, forcing an overtime period.

The Lancers attempted eight shots in the final 45 minutes, while the ‘Lopes made six attempts. Zehring collected two more saves as California Baptist placed two shots on goal.

California Baptist recorded two shots in the first overtime period, but with no score, the ‘Lopes faced their first second overtime period of the season. GCU made four attempts, one of which was saved by California Baptist goalkeeper Joey Pacheco, while Zehring saved the Lancers’ lone shot on goal in the second overtime period. Zehring finished with a season-high tying seven saves in the contest.

“Brandon scored an incredible goal,” added Draksin. “I felt that we were unlucky in one play in overtime. Saeed Robinson was one on one with the goalie in the box after beating three defenders, but sometimes that is the game and luck is not there for you. The fans saw a hard fought game on both sides today.”

GCU will conclude the regular season with a home game against California Baptist on Saturday, Nov. 3 with kickoff slated for 5:45 p.m. The seniors on the team will be recognized as part of the Senior Night festivities.

“The work does not stop for us now, we have a week to prepare for the next game,” said Draksin. “I can’t say enough about how proud I am of these young men. They have not lost in 11 games and in 17 games, to only lose twice, what a tribute that is to the program. With that being said, we are not done and still have a lot of work to do.”

GCU 1, CBU 1 2OT