No. 8 'Lopes Shutout Fresno Pacific in Conference Opener

Saturday, September 15

Fresno, CA

5:30 PM

Grand Canyon

Fresno Pacific

Alberto Sanchez Garcia

Photo by: Darryl Webb

No. 8 'Lopes Shutout Fresno Pacific in Conference Opener

9/15/2012 7:55:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Robinson collects one goal, two assists

The No. 8 Grand Canyon University men’s soccer team opened up Pacific West Conference play with a 4-0 victory over Fresno Pacific tonight in Fresno, Calif. With the win, the Antelopes improved to 4-1-0 overall and 1-0-0 in the conference, while the Sunbirds are now 2-3-0, 0-2-0.

“After the tough loss to Seattle Pacific, the boys responded with a lot of character tonight,” said head coach Petar Draksin. “Fresno Pacific is a very good team. They are excellent on offense and have some tremendous forwards and midfielders. I’m very aware of how good this program is, so this was a great test for us to see how we would respond. This was a very crucial win because it is always important to win the first conference game.”

It was the second shutout victory for the ‘Lopes this season, with the first coming in the season-opener against CSU-Pueblo in Phoenix (2-0). The four-goal margin was the largest for GCU since a 6-1 win over Academy of Art on Oct. 20, 2011.

GCU outshot Fresno Pacific by a margin of 18-8 and used an offensive outburst in the second half to secure the win. The ‘Lopes had four different players record goals in the game.

The ‘Lopes collected eight shots in the first half, two of which were on goal. GCU goalkeeper Joshua Zehring faced just one shot on goal in the half and over the first five games of the season, has allowed just one goal in the first 45 minutes.

“Josh has done a great job and has established himself,” Draksin said. “He has made some great saves, which have changed the game in some instances. Our program is known as being a unified defensive team; those guys play together on defense and have done a great job.”

GCU notched the first goal of the game in the 23^rd minute when a Saeed Robinson shot was deflected to an open Oshane Brown, who successfully converted the opportunity for his first goal of the season.

“Once we scored the first goal, we were able to take control of the game,” added Draksin. “The guys played unified tonight and they were very spirited. We played well on defense as a team.”

The ‘Lopes came out firing in the second half, taking four shots within the first 10 minutes and 10 overall in the half while holding the Sunbirds to just five shots over the final 45 minutes. Alberto Sanchez Garcia gave GCU a 2-0 advantage with a header goal in the 52^nd minute on an assist from Brian Green. Fourteen minutes later, Brandon Hansen netted his first goal of the season, while Robinson collected his second assist in the contest.

Matt Malak made his first appearance of the season in goal, as he entered in the 74^th minute to take the place of Zehring, who collected two saves in the game.

Robinson was awarded a penalty kick in the 84^th minute following a Fresno Pacific foul and converted the shot for his fourth goal of the season.

GCU will next be in action when they continue their Northern California road trip with a contest against Notre Dame de Namur on Monday at 2 p.m.

“The trip continues on Monday at Notre Dame, who has been a longtime rival of ours,” Draksin said. “We both have identical records, so it will be a fun game. We are very happy to leave Fresno with a win.”

GCU 4, FPU 0