Momentum slowed in road loss

Sunday, October 6

Edinburg, Texas

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

2-9-1, 1-1-0

UT Rio Grande Valley

7-3-2, 1-0-1

Grand Canyon

UT Rio Grande Valley

10/6/2019 3:29:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Lopes suffer 1st WAC defeat

By: Jerob Moon

EDINBURG, Texas — The Grand Canyon women's soccer team fell 1-0 at UT Rio Grande Valley on Sunday.

It was the first conference loss of the season for GCU (2-9-1, 1-1-0 WAC) after the Lopes opened with a 2-1 win at New Mexico State on Friday.

After an offensive outburst against the Aggies resulting in two goals and five shots on goal, GCU was stymied against the Vaqueros. The Lopes recorded only five shots with one coming on goal.

UTRGV (7-3-2, 1-0-1) tested the Lopes defense often in the first half, outshooting GCU 9-1. The lone shot for GCU was taken by redshirt freshman forward Jaycee Iranshad in the sixth minute.

The Vaqueros scored first on a goal in the 27th minute, credited to Katherine Stokley after a free kick from midfield deflected off a GCU defender and into the goal. The Lopes locked down defensively for the rest of the game, allowing UTRGV to get only four of its 12 shots on goal.

The Lopes found more offense in the second half, outshooting the Vaqueros 4-3, but were unable to maintain pressure to the UTRGV back line and goalkeeper Kinga Szemik, who only needed to make one save.

GCU freshman goalkeeper Lauren Garthwaite made three saves in the match while Iranshad, sophomore defender Anna Whitaker and freshman midfielder Emma Anderson took the team's shots.

The Lopes will be back at GCU Stadium later this week, when they host reigning WAC regular-season champion Kansas City on Thursday in the annual Pink Out game at 7 p.m.