Completed Event: Men's Soccer versus Utah Tech on October 23, 2025 , Tie , 2, to, 2
M Soccer
vs Utah Tech
T 2-2
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Head Coach Petar Draksin
Season Preview: Men's Soccer
8/24/2012 9:16:00 AM | Men's Soccer
The Grand Canyon University men’s soccer team is set to get their 2012 season started under the guidance of head coach Petar Draksin, who begins his 20th season at the helm of the program and was named Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year in 2011.
The Antelopes have already played one exhibition game against Concordia University-Irvine, winning that contest 1-0, and have one more against host Vanguard on Saturday. The first regular season game for GCU is slated for Aug. 31 against CSU-Pueblo on the GCU soccer field. The ‘Lopes will play three additional non-PacWest games before opening conference play on Sept. 15 at Fresno Pacific.
“I am very excited about our non-conference schedule,” said Draksin. “We open up with Colorado Pueblo, the type of team that will definitely surprise you if you aren’t ready to play. The second game is against Sonoma State from the CCAA and it is always a battle against them. Fort Lewis has won two national championships in the last three years, so I’m excited to be able to get them on the schedule. It is a great pickup for our schedule and will be a great test. Finally, we travel to Seattle Pacific, a longtime rival of ours. We always look forward to playing them. That makes for an incredible last game for non-conference play.”
Following four consecutive conference games on the road, GCU will play their first match against a PacWest Conference opponent at home on Sept. 29, the first of five straight in Phoenix. The ‘Lopes will conclude their regular-season schedule with a home match against Cal Baptist on Nov. 3.
“The conference has gotten much better each year since 2006,” Draksin said. “Adding Cal Baptist last year was fantastic and the beauty of a strong conference is that it gives you great strength of schedule. We don’t have an automatic qualifier, so strength of schedule is important. Azusa Pacific was always an NAIA national tournament team, as was Fresno Pacific. Point Loma is also an excellent program and will be a contender. Holy Names had an excellent record last year in NAIA and they have done a great recruiting job for this year. Each of these teams is taking our conference to another level. I think we now rival the CCAA with regard to quality of teams in the PacWest.”
GCU has 18 players returning from last year’s squad that went 13-4-1 overall and 9-2-1 in conference play. Leading the way will be senior forward Saeed Robinson, who last season was named PacWest Newcomer of the Year and First Team All-PacWest. Alex Connally, a Second Team All-PacWest selection in 2011, also returns for his senior campaign.
“We have a great group of guys coming back from last year’s team,” said Draksin. “Saeed definitely made a mark for himself and this will be a tougher year for him because he is a marked man now. He is an excellent player, so he knows what he needs to do to score goals. We also have Brian Green, Chris Green and Ryan Baker returning as fifth-year seniors and Connally, who was one of our captains. We have quite a bit of experience.”
The ‘Lopes will also welcome 11 newcomers to the team, many of which have previous college-playing experience, including Matt Malak, Jamiesh Holait and Ante Spajic. Malak comes to GCU from Eastern New Mexico University where he played his freshman season. His squad won the Lone Star Conference, while Malak was named Co-Freshman of the Year and garnered First Team All-Conference honors. Holait, a defender, joins the squad from London, England, where he attended high school at Burnham Grammar School and also spent time at Bournemouth University. His 2008-09 Bournemouth team won and was promoted from the BUCS Mars Western 2B tier and the following season, were promoted from the BUCS Mars Western 2A tier. Holait was named Manager’s Player for Bournemouth in 2011-12. Spajic, a Zagreb, Croatia native, attended Technical School Tesla and the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture prior to coming to GCU. Spajic, a defender, joins the team as a freshman.
“Jamiesh comes in as a central defender and we expect him to step in immediately and fill in the shoes left by Maximilian Aust,” Draksin said. “With Jamiesh we filled one gap at that position and with Ante also joining our program, we were able to fill the other. Ante is excellent in the air and is very offensive minded.”
“We had to fill a gap at goalkeeper, so we brought in Matt from Eastern New Mexico ,” Draksin explained. “Matt brings quite a bit of experience. He led ENM to their first conference title in 20 years as a freshman last season and received quite a few awards. There will certainly be a battle in the preseason between Matt, Joshua Zehring and Felipe Reyes to win the starting job. That is the way you want it, especially with goalkeepers.”
There are also four walk-on athletes on the roster, including Ben Barkoff, Alberto Sanchez Garcia, William O'Dwyer and Adam Finnefrock.
“I am excited about our recruiting class,” Draksin added. “We have some transfers and a couple of freshman as well. They all are potential starters, so the first weeks together will determine who the 11 players will be to get us going.”
Fans can follow all of the action for the 2012 season by visiting GCULopes.com.
The Antelopes have already played one exhibition game against Concordia University-Irvine, winning that contest 1-0, and have one more against host Vanguard on Saturday. The first regular season game for GCU is slated for Aug. 31 against CSU-Pueblo on the GCU soccer field. The ‘Lopes will play three additional non-PacWest games before opening conference play on Sept. 15 at Fresno Pacific.
“I am very excited about our non-conference schedule,” said Draksin. “We open up with Colorado Pueblo, the type of team that will definitely surprise you if you aren’t ready to play. The second game is against Sonoma State from the CCAA and it is always a battle against them. Fort Lewis has won two national championships in the last three years, so I’m excited to be able to get them on the schedule. It is a great pickup for our schedule and will be a great test. Finally, we travel to Seattle Pacific, a longtime rival of ours. We always look forward to playing them. That makes for an incredible last game for non-conference play.”
Following four consecutive conference games on the road, GCU will play their first match against a PacWest Conference opponent at home on Sept. 29, the first of five straight in Phoenix. The ‘Lopes will conclude their regular-season schedule with a home match against Cal Baptist on Nov. 3.
“The conference has gotten much better each year since 2006,” Draksin said. “Adding Cal Baptist last year was fantastic and the beauty of a strong conference is that it gives you great strength of schedule. We don’t have an automatic qualifier, so strength of schedule is important. Azusa Pacific was always an NAIA national tournament team, as was Fresno Pacific. Point Loma is also an excellent program and will be a contender. Holy Names had an excellent record last year in NAIA and they have done a great recruiting job for this year. Each of these teams is taking our conference to another level. I think we now rival the CCAA with regard to quality of teams in the PacWest.”
GCU has 18 players returning from last year’s squad that went 13-4-1 overall and 9-2-1 in conference play. Leading the way will be senior forward Saeed Robinson, who last season was named PacWest Newcomer of the Year and First Team All-PacWest. Alex Connally, a Second Team All-PacWest selection in 2011, also returns for his senior campaign.
“We have a great group of guys coming back from last year’s team,” said Draksin. “Saeed definitely made a mark for himself and this will be a tougher year for him because he is a marked man now. He is an excellent player, so he knows what he needs to do to score goals. We also have Brian Green, Chris Green and Ryan Baker returning as fifth-year seniors and Connally, who was one of our captains. We have quite a bit of experience.”
The ‘Lopes will also welcome 11 newcomers to the team, many of which have previous college-playing experience, including Matt Malak, Jamiesh Holait and Ante Spajic. Malak comes to GCU from Eastern New Mexico University where he played his freshman season. His squad won the Lone Star Conference, while Malak was named Co-Freshman of the Year and garnered First Team All-Conference honors. Holait, a defender, joins the squad from London, England, where he attended high school at Burnham Grammar School and also spent time at Bournemouth University. His 2008-09 Bournemouth team won and was promoted from the BUCS Mars Western 2B tier and the following season, were promoted from the BUCS Mars Western 2A tier. Holait was named Manager’s Player for Bournemouth in 2011-12. Spajic, a Zagreb, Croatia native, attended Technical School Tesla and the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture prior to coming to GCU. Spajic, a defender, joins the team as a freshman.
“Jamiesh comes in as a central defender and we expect him to step in immediately and fill in the shoes left by Maximilian Aust,” Draksin said. “With Jamiesh we filled one gap at that position and with Ante also joining our program, we were able to fill the other. Ante is excellent in the air and is very offensive minded.”
“We had to fill a gap at goalkeeper, so we brought in Matt from Eastern New Mexico ,” Draksin explained. “Matt brings quite a bit of experience. He led ENM to their first conference title in 20 years as a freshman last season and received quite a few awards. There will certainly be a battle in the preseason between Matt, Joshua Zehring and Felipe Reyes to win the starting job. That is the way you want it, especially with goalkeepers.”
There are also four walk-on athletes on the roster, including Ben Barkoff, Alberto Sanchez Garcia, William O'Dwyer and Adam Finnefrock.
“I am excited about our recruiting class,” Draksin added. “We have some transfers and a couple of freshman as well. They all are potential starters, so the first weeks together will determine who the 11 players will be to get us going.”
Fans can follow all of the action for the 2012 season by visiting GCULopes.com.
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