Six Lopes score in shutout win over UIW

Friday, October 8

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

9-1-0, 4-0-0

Incarnate Word

2-6-2, 1-2-1

Incarnate Word

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Zach Campbell

10/8/2021 9:44:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

No. 17 GCU showcases dominant offense, logs 4th shutout

By: Sierra Smith

The No. 17 Grand Canyon men's soccer team dominated on offense, defeating Incarnate Word 6-0 with each goal scored by a different Lope on Friday night at GCU Stadium.

"Obviously happy with the win, happy with the result," GCU head coach Leonard Griffin said. "I'm just proud of the group. We continuously talk about how everybody is extremely important for us to get these victories and tonight showed that. I was proud to get a number of different guys onto the field and see that many different guys see the back of the net."

The six goals broke the GCU Division I-era record and was the most goals since Oct. 25, 2012 when the No. 8 Lopes beat Point Loma 7-3. It's also the biggest win margin for GCU since beating Hawaii Hilo 9-0 on Oct. 1, 2011.

The first goal of the evening came in the 17th minute when fifth-year midfielder Justin Rasmussen headed the ball into the goal off the cross from junior forward Cameron Weller. The goal was Rasmussen's team-leading fifth goal of the season.

GCU freshman midfielder Kaden Cameron, who started his second match of the season, scored his first collegiate goal at the 32:30 mark. Junior striker Shaun-Chris Joash earned the assist as he gave the perfect through ball with the outside of his left foot and found Cameron in the attack.

"Kaden has been a spark plug off the bench and he's earned it each and every day in training," Griffin said. "He rewarded himself with a goal through the work that he's put in during the weeks of training."

After leading 2-0 at halftime, the Lopes carried the momentum into the second half.

About eight minutes into the second half, sophomore Maximilian Moeller sent a through ball to Joash on the right side of the penalty box, and the left-footed shot went right by the Cardinals goalkeeper, pushing the GCU lead to 3-0. The goal was his fifth goal of the season, tying Rasmussen for the team lead.

In the 65th minute, senior midfielder Alexis Canales scored the first goal of his collegiate career. He attempted twice, with the first shot being saved by the UIW goalkeeper. After deflecting right back towards him, Canales was able to finish the second attempt for the fourth goal of the night.

"He's persevered," Griffin said about Canales. "He started off a little bit slow in the season but he's just put his head down and worked hard each and every day and so to see him reward himself with a goal is just a compliment to the effort he's put into all the days and weeks before now. I'm super happy for Alexis, he's a great person, great character and he's stepped up and played some big minutes the last few games so we're going to continue to rely on him. It's always great to get your first goal."

Fifth-year forward Rey Gaytan continued the GCU scoring frenzy with about five minutes left in regulation. The play was set up by freshman forward Imran Omar. Omar passed the ball to Weller, who found junior forward Alec LaBarge at the top of the six-yard goal box, who then tapped the ball back to Gaytan at the top of the 18-yard penalty box for a one-touch shot and goal in the upper-right corner.

The final goal for the Lopes came in the 87th minute from Weller. The junior forward beat the Cardinal defender down the right sideline, then cut the ball inside and scorched the ball perfectly over the UIW goalkeeper into the upper-left corner of the goal.

Before the match, the GCU starters posed for a photo holding the #99 goalie jersey for freshman Rafael Guerrero, who was injured on Sept. 25 after bad collision sent him to the hospital.

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"Since it happened, the guys have always kept Rafa in his thoughts and prayers and they're not going to forget about him, that's their brother," Griffin said. "They miss him and anything they can do to honor him, they want to do it and I think the boys felt him here with us tonight. We've been talking to him and we've seen him smile via FaceTime so that's been encouraging and I think that knowing he's progressing has helped lift the group. They put on a good performance for him tonight."

The first text coach Griffin and the team received in their group chat was from Rafa. The text said "What a game, congratulations boys. Full team win, way to step up. Let's have this momentum carry us into the game on Sunday. Super happy for you guys!"

"There you go, shows something special," Griffin said. "Band of brothers and they stick together so that's been fun to be a part of."

Up next, GCU takes on spring 2021 runner-up UT Rio Grande Valley on Sunday at 7 p.m. for Ted Lasso Night at GCU Stadium.