Lopes hit road, end week at home


Grand Canyon Lopes (1-5)	vs	UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (1-1-2)	North Dakota Fighting Hawks (4-1-1)
		Friday, Sept. 13 7 p.m. (Phoenix time)	Sunday, Sept. 15 7 p.m. (Phoenix time)
Match Notes		Live Video Live Stats	Live Video Live Stats

The Grand Canyon women's soccer team will look to get back on track after a winless homestand. The Lopes will play in their first road match in nearly three weeks when they play at UC Santa Barbara on Friday night before playing at home against North Dakota in a first-time matchup on Sunday night.

The Lopes suffered a pair of one-goal losses last week at home against Northern Colorado and Colorado State. The match against the Rams went into double overtime, the first of the season for GCU. Lopes redshirt freshman Jaycee Iranshad scored her first goal of the season against the Bears in the 13th minute.

Thursday's match against UC Santa Barbara will be available on BigWest.tv and Sunday's match against North Dakota can be watched on the WAC Digital Network.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SPLIT-WEEK EXPERIENCE: The Lopes' matches against the Gauchos and Fighting Hawks will mark the sixth time since 2016 that the Lopes played at home and away in the same two-match set. GCU owns a 2-5-2 record when split.
SET THE EXPECTATION NIGHT: After the Lopes face UC Santa Barbara on Friday, the team will host a Set The Expectation Night with special guest Brenda Tracy. Also before the game, the City of Phoenix will host a Paint Phoenix Purple Donation Drive. A list of requested items to bring can be found here.
NONCONFERENCE NEARLY COMPLETE: Only four more matches remain in the Lopes nonconference slate. After the Gauchos and Fighting Hawks, the Lopes will play against Cal State Northridge at home on Sept. 22 and at Omaha on Sept. 27. WAC play begins Oct. 4 at New Mexico State.

SCOUTING

UC Santa Barbara has played three of its first four matches at home but have yet to win a game. Its lone win on the season was a 3-0 win at Idaho last Sunday. The match against the Lopes kicks off a three-match homestand that features No. 2 Stanford.

The Gauchos are led by Shaelean Murison, who is tied for the team lead with two goals. Her 20 shots taken is second most in the Big West Conference.

GCU and UCSB have met only once, when they played to a 1-1 tie in 2017. GCU's Anyssa De Vara tied the game in the 70th minute after UCSB's Amanda Ball scored in the 20th minute.

North Dakota will play the program's first-ever match in Arizona when they face GCU on Sunday. The Fighting Hawks are on a three-match winning streak, outscoring opponents 16-1 in those games. The match against the Lopes will be the first of a three-match roadtrip that will continue next week at Boise State and Idaho.

Mimi Eiden is tied for the conference lead in goals with five and leads the Summit League in points with 11.

Goalkeeper Catherine Klien ranks second in the NCAA for goal minutes played. The senior has played 665 minutes while accumulating 32 saves and a 91.4 save percentage.

LAST TIME OUT

The Lopes lost matches at home against Northern Colorado and Colorado State (double overtime).
Redshirt freshman Jaycee Iranshad paced the offense with 12 shots taken against the Bears and Rams.
Iranshad scored her first goal against Northern Colorado on an unassisted goal in the 13th minute.

WHAT'S NEXT

GCU will host Cal State Northridge on Senior Day, honoring lone senior Andrea Martinez on Sept. 22 at 1 p.m.

For more GCU women's soccer news, notes and numbers, click here to view the match notes.

Grand Canyon University Athletics

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SCOUTING

LAST TIME OUT

WHAT'S NEXT

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Players Mentioned

Jaycee Iranshad

Andrea Martinez

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