Women's Soccer Wins Second Straight 1-0 Contest

Saturday, October 6

Phoenix, AZ

8:00 PM

Grand Canyon

BYU-Hawai'i

Nicole Nsa picked up her team-leading third goal tonight

Photo by: Darryl Webb

10/6/2012 10:49:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Hand BYU-Hawaii first conference loss

The Grand Canyon University women’s soccer team won, 1-0, tonight over visiting BYU-Hawaii in Phoenix, Ariz. The Antelopes are now 5-4-2 overall and 4-1-2 in the Pacific West Conference, while the SeaSiders suffered their first conference loss (3-1-1) and are now 5-2-1 overall.

The one-goal victory was the fourth straight such game that the ‘Lopes have played, coming out victorious in three of those.

"The girl's played exceptionally well this evening and worked hard for one another from the first whistle to the last kick of the ball," said head coach Stevie Gill. "This was the first full 90 minutes that we have put in collectively where we looked like the team to beat in the conference. I can't say enough about our pressure on the ball and how the girl's competed to win their individual battles."

GCU and BYU-Hawaii went shot for shot throughout most of the game, as they both finished with 11 shots on the night. The ‘Lopes did hold the advantage in shots on goal, collecting six compared to four for the SeaSiders.

The two teams played to a scoreless tie through most of the first half until Nicole Nsa found the back of the net in the 40^th minute for the lone score of the game. Nsa converted the shot to the back right of the net on a header off a defender from BYU-Hawaii for her team-leading third goal of the season.

The ‘Lopes held a slight advantage in shots in the first 45 minutes, 7-6, and the teams were even with three shots on goal. GCU goalkeeper Cat Lena had three saves in the first half and finished with four in the game.

The second half was once again tightly contested, as the two squads combined for just nine shots.

Gabriella Zavala de Rojas and Sasha Scott each had two shots, with one of those placed on goal each, while Samantha Bush narrowly missed goals as both of her shots were saved.

"Nicole scored a fantastic goal just before half with a beautiful volley that hit the back of the net," said Gill. "I'm very proud of all the girl's. Now we need to regroup and set our sights on winning our next game against Hawaii Pacific University on Tuesday to solidify ourselves as a contender for the title."

The ‘Lopes will next be in action as their homestand continues with contests against Hawai’i Pacific on Tuesday and Dominican on Saturday, with kickoff for both slated for 8 p.m. on the GCU Soccer Field.

GCU 1, BYUH 0