WAC play begins at home

Thursday, February 18

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Utah Valley

2/17/2021 1:34:00 PM | Women's Soccer

GCU hosts Utah Valley in conference opener

By: Jerob Moon

Feb. 18/20 | 7 p.m./1p.m. | GCU Stadium


Grand Canyon Lopes (0-4)	vs.	Utah Valley Wolverines (1-1-1)
Match Notes	G1 Live Video G1 Live Stats G2 Live Video G2 Live Stats	Match Notes

The Grand Canyon women's soccer team will open WAC play this week with home games against Utah Valley on Thursday and Saturday at GCU Stadium.

The Lopes wrapped up nonconference play last week with two losses to Arizona State. GCU lost an entertaining first game to the Sun Devils, falling 3-2 in overtime at home. In Tempe on Sunday, ASU controlled the match to win 4-0 while GCU was limited to six shots.

Both of this week's games will be streamed on GCUTV.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

WAC LEADER: Redshirt sophomore Hayden Wallace is the WAC leader in saves entering conference play. With 26 saves, Wallace is 10 saves ahead of the second-place keeper, UT Rio Grande Valley's Maile Lundari. Wallace recorded 13 saves against Arizona State on Feb. 7 for the third-highest, single-game total of the GCU D-I era.
ADJUSTED SCHEDULE: The WAC schedule will look different this season. With a normal fall season, GCU would face each WAC team once, alternating home and away matches each season. This spring, GCU will face each WAC school twice in back-to-back matches at the same location. Along with hosting Utah Valley, the Lopes will welcome New Mexico State, UTRGV and California Baptist to GCU Stadium this season.
CISSELL SUCCESS: GCU head coach Chris Cissell enters his 10th WAC season after accumulating a 53-18-8 record over the previous nine seasons at Kansas City. Against Utah Valley, Cissell is 7-6 all-time with a 3-2 record against the Wolverines in the WAC Tournament.

SCOUTING

Utah Valley enters WAC play with a 1-1-1 record with all three matches coming on the road. Most recently, the Wolverines played to a 0-0 draw with UTEP on Saturday.

The Wolverines boast four players on the Preseason All-WAC team, including Amber Tripp, the WAC Offensive Player of the Year. So far this season, Tripp has yet to score a goal while taking eight shots. Leading UVU on offense is redshirt junior Sadie Brockbank with a pair of goals on nine shots. Goalkeeper Isabel Jones-Dawe has only allowed two goals in three games and ranks second in the WAC with a 0.61 goals against average.

LAST TIME OUT

GCU lost a pair of game to Arizona State.
The Lopes withstood 29 shots and 17 corners in a 3-2 overtime loss to ASU on Feb. 7.
Senior forward Camryn Larson scored her first goal of the season while Jaycee Iranshad added her second of the year.