No. 24 Lopes take to the road

Friday, September 7

Evansville, Ind.

4:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Evansville

9/6/2018 9:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

GCU Match Notes 2018 Media Guide

GCU to play Evansville, SIU Edwardsville

By: Josh Hauser


(24) Grand Canyon Lopes (2-0, 0-0 WAC)	at	Evansville Purple Aces (0-2-2, 0-0-0 MVC)	SIU Edwardsville Cougars (2-0-1, 0-0-0 MAC)
		Friday, Sept. 7 4 p.m. (Phoenix time)	Sunday, Sept. 9 5 p.m. (Phoenix time)
Match Notes Media Guide		Live Video Live Stats	Live Video Live Stats

The newly minted top-25 GCU men's soccer team heads onto the road for the first time this season and faces its first two-match weekend of the season. The Lopes take on Evansville on Friday and Southern Illinois Edwardsville on Sunday.

GCU is looking to build off its two home wins that began the season, taking down then-No. 12 Wisconsin and then-No. 20 Creighton in front of big crowds at GCU Stadium.

Friday's match will be available on ESPN+, a subscription-based online stream. Sunday's match will be streamed live on SIUECougars.com.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

CONSENSUS TOP 25: For the first time in program history, the Lopes are nationally ranked. GCU appears in the top 25 in all three polls, including a No. 24 ranking in the most widely recognized poll, the United Soccer Coaches Poll. More »
GOOD START: The Lopes have started the season 2-0 for the first time in the six-year Division I era and the first time overall since 2012.
BICYCLE KICKS ALLOWED: Head coach Schellas Hyndman advised sophomore forward Jaime Delor to stop attempting bicycle kicks in practice. They rarely were successful and Hyndman worried of injury. However, when Delor's bicycle kick goal in the 81st minute helped GCU defeat Creighton on Friday, that restriction was removed. Delor was the nation's leading goal scorer as a freshman at Southwest Mississippi Community College in 2016.

SCOUTING

Evansville is already facing its third WAC opponent of the season, falling to Utah Valley 4-0 and UNLV 4-1 in the season's opening weekend. The Purple Aces recorded a draw in their most recent matches against Eastern Illinois and IUPUI.

Four Evansville players each have scored a goal to open the season. The Purple Aces will be looking to shore up a defense that has allowed 11 goals thus far.

The Purple Aces visited Phoenix last season for GCU's home opener. In front of 3,506 fans, Niki Jackson scored on a late header to help the Lopes take down Evansville 1-0. The Purple Aces were 4-0 and ranked No. 25 in the Top Drawer Soccer poll entering that match.

SIU Edwardsville brings a two-game winning streak into the weekend, when it will face Wisconsin prior to Sunday's match with GCU. The Cougars also previously played another WAC team, sneaking by Kansas City 1-0.

Jorge Gonzalez is the only multi-goal scorer for SIUE thus far. The Cougars allowed two goals to score in the opener before posting back-to-back shutout wins.

This is the first meeting between the two programs.

LAST TIME OUT

Jaime Delor scored his first goal in a GCU uniform as the Lopes defeated Creighton 1-0.
GCU freshman goalkeeper George Tasouris made his career debut, recording six saves.
A crowd of 3,402 fans -- the fifth-largest in GCU Stadium history -- saw GCU defeat its second consecutive top-20 opponent.