Gourley's clutch goal extends winning streak

Friday, October 15

Seattle, Wash.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

12-2-1, 5-0-1

Seattle U

6-6-3, 0-4-2

Grand Canyon

Seattle U

10/15/2021 9:54:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

GCU kicks off road trip with thrilling 2-1 victory at Seattle U

By: Jerob Moon

SEATTLE – The Grand Canyon women's soccer team kicked off its road trip with a thrilling 2-1 win over Seattle U on Friday night.

It was the GCU dynamic duo of senior Marleen Schimmer and junior Gianna Gourley that led the offense as the Lopes withstood a Seattle U barrage in the second half. Gourley's game-winning goal in the 86th minute was the difference for GCU to push its winning streak to five matches.

"What a crazy game," Lopes head coach Chris Cissell said. "It was such a great result to score right at the end. To be honest, I was starting to think overtime and what our lineup was going to be. The girls kept fighting. The grit and persistence we showed today was great."

GCU (12-2-1, 5-0-1 WAC) came out aggressive on offense and took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Schimmer in the 25th minute. Schimmer, a forward, raced down the right side after a pass from graduate defender Mina Ghazizadeh and fired a shot on the near post. The ball squeaked past Seattle U's goalkeeper and into the net for her ninth goal of the season.

The Lopes took the 1-0 lead into the halftime break and held an 8-3 shot advantage, but the script flipped in the second half.

"We didn't have a great second half, credit to Seattle," Cissell said. "They played really hard and really well and stole the momentum with their equalizer."

The Redhawks (6-6-3, 0-4-2 WAC) outshot GCU 11-3 in the second half and broke through with the tying goal in the 57th minute. Senior forward Sydney Carr, who led the nation in scoring last season, drove a low shot past Lopes sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Ferguson to even the score at 1-1.

The GCU back line continue to withstand the Seattle attack and the Lopes found their footing on the counter attack to take the late lead.

GCU junior defender Tyler Ferguson blocked a shot and immediately cleared the ball to fifth-yea forward Camryn Larson in the midfield. Larson then lobbed a pass down the left side to Gourley, who raced into space and into the penalty box. The Las Vegas native gathered and fired a low shot that skipped into the right side netting for a 2-1 lead in the 86th minute. It was Gourley's fourth game-winning goal this season, joining 35 other Division I players who entered Thursday night with four or more.

"We kept working, believing and playing our game and scored a great goal late," Cissell said. "After we scored, I thought we did a great job killing the clock for the rest of the game."

Schimmer and Gourley remained tied atop the WAC goal leaderboard with nine goals each, as GCU reached the 12-win mark for the first time since 2005.

"It's a great feeling for the team right now to be able to win on the road against such a great team and program," Cissell said. "It's a huge win for us for what we are trying to accomplish this season."

The Lopes will take their five-match winning streak to California Baptist for a noon match on Sunday in Norco, Calif.