Drack breaks stalemate

Sunday, September 23

San Antonio, Texas

5 p.m.

Grand Canyon

4-4

Incarnate Word

0-6-1

Grand Canyon

University of the Incarnate Word

9/23/2018 7:33:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Lopes begin conference play with 1-0 road win

By: Josh Hauser

SAN ANTONIO — Grand Canyon sophomore forward Josh Drack scored the match's lone goal as the Lopes opened WAC play with a 1-0 victory against Incarnate Word on Sunday night.

GCU freshman forward Bert Wilton sent the ball toward the goal from the right flank, and Drack elevated his left leg to direct the ball past the goalkeeper for his first score of the season. Wilton earned his first career assist for his part in the 78th-minute score.

"Bert ran extremely hard to get to the ball," Lopes head coach Schellas Hyndman said. "When he got to the ball, he served an excellent ball with some pace on it. Josh was sprinting toward the far post and he one-timed it with his foot into the goal."

The Lopes (4-4, 1-0 WAC) are unbeaten in four consecutive conference openers while Incarnate Word (0-6-1, 0-1 WAC) is still searching for its first win of the season.

It was a redemption of sorts for Drack, who missed a penalty kick in the match's 10th minute.

"That could have changed the whole game," Hyndman said of the early scoring opportunity. "But as it turned out, Josh played with heart from that point on. It really made him feel valued to recover like that."

GCU's game-winning goal came moments after a frenetic sequence near the Cardinals' goal, where the Lopes got several looks at breaking the 0-0 stalemate. Incarnate Word dodged the bullet at the time, but Drack's goal a few minutes later led to the GCU win.

The Lopes recorded their third shutout win of the season through eight matches, already matching last season's total.

Incarnate Word showed its physical style of play throughout and received four yellow cards in the process, running its season total to 19 yellows. By contrast, the Lopes have been shown yellow just seven times this season.

"It was a hard, physical, back-and-forth match with a lot of banging around," Hyndman said. "We didn't have a great first half but made the decision to fight with them in the second half.

"It's our first road win. It's been tough on the road for us. It's good to see us win on the road and start conference the right way."

GCU returns home for a two-match weekend at GCU Stadium. The Lopes host CSU Bakersfield on Friday night before taking on WAC newcomer California Baptist on Sunday.