Completed Event: Men's Soccer versus Utah Tech on October 23, 2025 , Tie , 2, to, 2
M Soccer
vs Utah Tech
T 2-2
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Stadium lights bring out shining talent
10/30/2020 10:15:00 AM | Men's Soccer, Paul Coro
Rasmussen's 2 goals, Yasuda's 4 assists highlight offensive skill
The Grand Canyon men's soccer team wondered how much an intrasquad scrimmage could really fuel the fire.
But for a team that last played any game almost eight months ago and a regular-season game nearly a full year ago, the in-week chirping between the split squads built up and carried over to the pregame locker room and warmups Friday night.
The uniforms, the GCU Stadium lights, a scoreboard and live-stream cameras lit the flames after nothing but practices and training for the Lopes since August.
"We definitely started to get amped up and psyched up," Lopes senior Justin Rasmussen said. "It was important for us to play a game to get a feel of getting back on the field and putting on the colors. I think we needed to have this to get a sense of why we're here."
That spirit and drive showed in a fast pace, which was fueled by a 10-on-10 format and a field shorted by 36 yards. The Purple won 4-1 for bragging rights over the White, but the GCU coaches also won. They learned more about their team, as it tries to regain its 2018 NCAA tournament form after an injury-riddled 2019 season.
"This is a talented team and we'll do well," Lopes head coach Schellas Hyndman said of a season that was postponed to the spring because of COVID-19.
"It's a little bit more of a complete team. It has more depth when you look at flank midfielders. Any of these four can start: Justin Rasmussen, Marco Afonso, Tosh Yasuda or Rey Gaytan. They're all first-teamers. The exciting part is, if we're completely in place with the other positions, those four guys can be rotating in and out and really causing havoc on the flanks."
That was on display during a sharp-passing Friday night, when Rasmussen picked up where he left off last season when he scored GCU's last goal on Nov. 9. Rasmussen scored twice Friday night and assisted on another while senior Tosh Yasuda assisted on each of Purple's four goals.
"It felt really refreshing," Yasuda said. "We haven't played a game since February. We were all excited the whole week. We've been training hard. We've been focused. It just felt really, really good to play under the lights at home. Amazing. It was something to get excited about."
Yasuda favored his first assist, when he slipped a pass behind a defender to connect with a cutting Rasmussen, who blasted a left-footed shot into the goal in the 16th minute.
The Purple added three consecutive goals in the final 20 minutes of the game, with Yasuda heading an assist to German freshman Maximilian Moeller, who slid in front of the goal to knock the ball in for a 2-1 lead.
Yasuda executed a give-and-go a minute later with another freshman, midfield Edgar Soto, to set up his third assist with a backward pass to Rasmussen in the middle of the box for his second goal.
Yasuda's final assist was another centering pass to Soto, who hit a hard left-footed liner for the game's final score.
"It was amazing," said Soto, who is from Belton, Texas. "I had this moment in my first varsity game in high school when I got goosebumps for the national anthem. I had the same emotions here. Even though we didn't have people here, except for a few friends, I had that same feeling. It was a blessing. I loved every bit of it."
The Purple also was in good shape from the beginning with the sure hands of junior George Tasouris in goal and senior Ariel Aguas on the back line.
White's only game came on a backfield turnover, when junior midfielder Marios Andreou jumped on a defender receiving the ball as he pivoted. He stole it, putting him and senior teammate Marco Afonso alone against Tasouris. Andreou punched it past Tasouris' left side.
"We've been training since August and this is the first time we've played a full game in all that time because I've been focusing on different things," Hyndman said. "I'm pleased with what we saw.
"It has been completely so different and I complement our team for following the protocol, doing what they need to do and how hard they've been working. They've really been true to the task."
But for a team that last played any game almost eight months ago and a regular-season game nearly a full year ago, the in-week chirping between the split squads built up and carried over to the pregame locker room and warmups Friday night.
The uniforms, the GCU Stadium lights, a scoreboard and live-stream cameras lit the flames after nothing but practices and training for the Lopes since August.
"We definitely started to get amped up and psyched up," Lopes senior Justin Rasmussen said. "It was important for us to play a game to get a feel of getting back on the field and putting on the colors. I think we needed to have this to get a sense of why we're here."
That spirit and drive showed in a fast pace, which was fueled by a 10-on-10 format and a field shorted by 36 yards. The Purple won 4-1 for bragging rights over the White, but the GCU coaches also won. They learned more about their team, as it tries to regain its 2018 NCAA tournament form after an injury-riddled 2019 season.
"This is a talented team and we'll do well," Lopes head coach Schellas Hyndman said of a season that was postponed to the spring because of COVID-19.
"It's a little bit more of a complete team. It has more depth when you look at flank midfielders. Any of these four can start: Justin Rasmussen, Marco Afonso, Tosh Yasuda or Rey Gaytan. They're all first-teamers. The exciting part is, if we're completely in place with the other positions, those four guys can be rotating in and out and really causing havoc on the flanks."
That was on display during a sharp-passing Friday night, when Rasmussen picked up where he left off last season when he scored GCU's last goal on Nov. 9. Rasmussen scored twice Friday night and assisted on another while senior Tosh Yasuda assisted on each of Purple's four goals.
"It felt really refreshing," Yasuda said. "We haven't played a game since February. We were all excited the whole week. We've been training hard. We've been focused. It just felt really, really good to play under the lights at home. Amazing. It was something to get excited about."
Yasuda favored his first assist, when he slipped a pass behind a defender to connect with a cutting Rasmussen, who blasted a left-footed shot into the goal in the 16th minute.
The Purple added three consecutive goals in the final 20 minutes of the game, with Yasuda heading an assist to German freshman Maximilian Moeller, who slid in front of the goal to knock the ball in for a 2-1 lead.
Yasuda executed a give-and-go a minute later with another freshman, midfield Edgar Soto, to set up his third assist with a backward pass to Rasmussen in the middle of the box for his second goal.
Yasuda's final assist was another centering pass to Soto, who hit a hard left-footed liner for the game's final score.
"It was amazing," said Soto, who is from Belton, Texas. "I had this moment in my first varsity game in high school when I got goosebumps for the national anthem. I had the same emotions here. Even though we didn't have people here, except for a few friends, I had that same feeling. It was a blessing. I loved every bit of it."
The Purple also was in good shape from the beginning with the sure hands of junior George Tasouris in goal and senior Ariel Aguas on the back line.
White's only game came on a backfield turnover, when junior midfielder Marios Andreou jumped on a defender receiving the ball as he pivoted. He stole it, putting him and senior teammate Marco Afonso alone against Tasouris. Andreou punched it past Tasouris' left side.
"We've been training since August and this is the first time we've played a full game in all that time because I've been focusing on different things," Hyndman said. "I'm pleased with what we saw.
"It has been completely so different and I complement our team for following the protocol, doing what they need to do and how hard they've been working. They've really been true to the task."
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's SoccerSenior Reflections
Wednesday, April 15
Baptized at GCU
Tuesday, April 14
Singles off BOTH bags. ONE inning. 🤯 #baseball
Sunday, April 12
HOMER from the DRONE 🥎 #collegesoftball
Saturday, April 11