GCU, Arizona State to play pair

Thursday, February 11

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Arizona State

Photo by: Garrett Ohrenberg

2/10/2021 3:11:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Lopes, Sun Devils wrap nonconference play with home-and-home series

By: Jerob Moon

Feb. 11/14 | 7 p.m. | GCU Stadium/Sun Devil Stadium


Grand Canyon Lopes (0-2)	vs.	Arizona State Sun Devils (2-0)
Match Notes	G1 Live Video G1 Live Stats G2 Live Video G2 Live Stats	Match Notes

The Grand Canyon women's soccer team will conclude its nonconference schedule against crosstown Arizona State in a home-and-home series on Thursday and Sunday. Both games will begin at 7 p.m. with Thursday's match at GCU Stadium and Sunday's match at Sun Devil Stadium.

The Lopes opened the season with a pair of home losses to Arizona and Northern Arizona. Sophomore Jaycee Iranshad scored the first goal of the season from 25 yards out against the Wildcats. GCU gave up two early goals against NAU while taking 12 shots in the shutout.

Thursday's game will be streamed on GCUTV while Sunday's game will be streamed on the Pac-12 Network.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

FIRST MEETING SINCE 1996: It has been nearly 25 years since the Lopes and Sun Devils met for the first time. In its inaugural season, GCU wrapped up nonconference play with a 2-1 loss at ASU on Sept. 25, 1996.
FAMILIAR FOE: Junior forward Marleen Schimmer will face ASU for the first time since transferring to GCU over the summer. Schimmer appeared in 35 games with 30 starts for the Sun Devils, scoring 11 goals with five assists in the last two seasons. She earned All-Pac-12 third-team honors last season.
WAC PLAY LOOMS: With a shortened nonconference season, WAC play will begin in short order next week. GCU will host Utah Valley for two games at GCU Stadium on Feb. 18 and 20. Seven of the last eight games between the Lopes and Wolverines were decided by one goal with two games going to overtime.

SCOUTING

Arizona State flipped the script with a 2-0 start this season after a disappointing finish to the 2019 campaign. The Sun Devils opened last season at 5-0 but finished 6-11-3, including 0-9-2 in Pac-12 play. It was the first time ASU went winless in conference action since it joined the conference in 1997.

This season, ASU has started hot on offense with a 3-1 win over UTEP and a 4-0 shutout of WAC opponent New Mexico State. Junior forward Nicole Douglas was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week after scoring five goals in two games, including a hat trick against the Aggies on Sunday.