Lopes hit the road to California

Grand Canyon at UC Irvine
Date: Friday, Sept. 2
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Irvine, Calif. - Anteater Stadium
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Grand Canyon at Loyola Marymount
Date: Monday, Sept. 5
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Location: Los Angeles, Calif. - Sullivan Field
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PHOENIX - After kicking off the season at home in front of a record-breaking crowd, the Grand Canyon men's soccer team will hit the road for the first time this season for two matches in California. In its first two-match weekend of the season, GCU will face UC Irvine and Loyola Marymount.

It was a historic night for GCU in its season opener, defeating UCF 4-2 in front of 6,402 fans, the largest crowd to ever attend a collegiate soccer match in the state of Arizona. Not only was it the largest crowd in the history of Arizona collegiate soccer, but it was also the second largest crowd in the NCAA this year. It was the first time GCU has won its season opener since 2013, when the Lopes took down Nebraska-Omaha.

Head coach Schellas Hyndman was looking for his key contributors to step up and they delivered. After scoring six points last season in his freshman year, Damian German got off to a great start with a goal and an assist for a total of three points in the first match of the season. It didn't take for the Lopes returning goal scorer, Niki Jackson, to score his first goal of the season as he gave GCU a 2-0 lead in the 15th minute with a header. As one of the top recruits in GCU's Class of 2016, JUCO All-American, Khadim Seye, made his presence felt immediately scoring two goals from the midfield. Seye scored the first ever penalty kick at the new GCU Stadium and followed up with a goal less than three minutes into the second half.

The California road trip will begin the Lopes' four match road trip as they will conclude this trip in New Mexico. UC Irvine and LMU have both have scored just one goal in two games.

Series History
This will be the second time GCU faces both UC Irvine and Loyola Marymount. The Lopes are 0-1-0 against UCI and LMU.

Scouting UC Irvine
The Anteaters may have had the toughest schedule to start the season on the road competing in the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament at Notre Dame. In their first match, UCI suffered a 4-0 loss to the Irish, who is ranked No. 9 in the country. The gauntlet continued for the Anteaters as they squared off against No. 15 Indiana. After not scoring a goal against the Irish, UCI made great improvements scoring a goal against the Hoosiers and ever tied late into the game. UCI made the most of their shot attempts firing off eight shots with four on target. Jose Ortiz is the lone Anteater to score this season while Elliot Farmer has played all 180 minutes in goal for UCI. In two matches, Farmer has 10 saves this year.

Scouting Loyola Marymount
Like UC Irvine, the Lions of Loyola Marymount also went up against a nationally ranked opponent in No. 6 Syracuse in the Central New York Classic. Despite being outshot by Syracuse 10-5, the Lions just trailed but one goal late into the second half before Alvaro Madrigal scored in the 68th minute to tie the match and send it into overtime. LMU's goalkeeper, Collin Partee stepped up with seven saves to keep his team in the match but early in the second overtime, Syracuse would score for the late 2-1 victory. As a part of their New York road trip, LMU also took on Colgate in a defensive battle that resulted in a 1-0 win for Colgate. Despite going 0-2, Adrien Perez and Mark Dotseth made the All-Tournament Team.

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Players Mentioned

Damian German

Niki Jackson

Khadim Seye

Grand Canyon University Athletics