Homestand ends with 2 matches


Grand Canyon Lopes (1-3)	vs	Northern Colorado Bears (0-3-1)	Colorado State Rams (2-1-1)
		Thursday, Sept. 5 7 p.m. (Phoenix time)	Sunday, Sept. 8 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 start to the home schedule, with the final two matches of the longest homestand of the season.

The Lopes will host Northern Colorado on Thursday night and then play Colorado State on Sunday night in a matching the Lopes against a team they haven't faced at home since 2015. GCU played both teams on the road last season with both matches ending in one-goal losses.

Thursday's match against Northern Colorado and Sunday's match against Colorado State will be available on the WAC Digital Network.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE: GCU has had success at home against Northern Colorado and Colorado State in the past. The Lopes defeated the Rams 2-1 in August of 2015 and then defeated the Bears a season later in GCU Stadium with a 1-0 shutout. Former GCU forward Milla Benedetti scored all three goals in those matchups.
STEADY BETWEEN THE POSTS: Freshman goalie Lauren Garthwaite ranks third in the WAC in saves with 21. That mark also places her inside the top 40 in the nation.
ROAD GAMES LOOMING: After the Lopes host a pair of matches this weekend, four of the next six matches will be on the road, including the start of WAC play. GCU will head to UC Santa Barbara next week and then to Omaha at the end of the month, wrapping up nonconference play before traveling to New Mexico State and UT Rio Grande Valley the following week.

SCOUTING

Northern Colorado is still looking for its first win of the season. The Bears opened the season with a 1-1 draw against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and then followed with three straight losses on the road at Wyoming in double overtime, Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine. The five-match roadtrip will wrap up with matches at GCU on Thursday and at SMU on Friday.

The Bears are being outscored 10-2 while being held scoreless for the last 244 minutes of game time.

Maddie Duren and Haley O'Nan have scored goals for Northern Colorado, with both coming against Wyoming on Aug. 28.

Northern Colorado defeated GCU 2-1 on the road last season. Brylee Hawkins scored for GCU in the seventh minute but goals by UNC's Taylor Bray and Mariel Guiterrez in the 11th and 74th minutes proved to be the difference.

Colorado State started the season hot at home with a 2-0 shutout over Marquette and a 3-2 win over SIU Edwarsdville. On the road, however, the Rams fell 2-1 to Gonzaga and drew 1-1 at Eastern Washington in consecutive matches.

Senior Caeley Lordemann has scored three of the team's first seven goals this season. Her six points have tied her for fifth in the Mountain West's point leaders. Lordemann scored the game-winning goal against GCU last season at home.

Goalkeeper Gabi McDonals is tied for the most saves in the Mountain West at 22. Her average of 5.5 saves per game is good for second most in the conference.

LAST TIME OUT

The Lopes lost both matches at home against UTEP and UTSA.
Freshman Lauren Garthwaite saved a career-high eight shots against UTSA.
Freshman Emma Anderson scored her second goal in three matches with a penalty kick against UTEP in the 65th minute.

WHAT'S NEXT

GCU will have a split schedule next week, playing at UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 13, the first Friday match of the season, before facing North Dakota at home on Sept. 15.

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

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SCOUTING

LAST TIME OUT

WHAT'S NEXT

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Emma Anderson

Milla Benedetti

Lauren Garthwaite

Brylee Hawkins

Grand Canyon University Athletics