GCU hosts Houston Baptist in season opener


Grand Canyon Lopes (0-0, 0-0 WAC)	vs.	Houston Baptist Huskies (0-1-1, 0-1 WAC)
Match Notes	Live Video Live Stats

The Grand Canyon men's soccer team opens the 2020-21 season on Saturday night against Houston Baptist. The Lopes host the Huskies at 7 p.m. at GCU Stadium in their first official competition since 2019.

The match will be streamed live on the WAC Digital Network and GCUTV.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

END OF AN ERA: GCU head coach Schellas Hyndman announced that he will be retiring at the conclusion of the 2020-21 season. Hyndman is the second-winningest active coach in Division I men's soccer with a 503-169-58 head coaching record. He was inducted into the United Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame in the offseason in recognition of his 37-season coaching career.
PRESEASON ALL-WAC: The Lopes were selected to finish fourth in the WAC by the conference coaches' preseason poll. Sophomore defender Esai Easley was the lone GCU student-athlete selected for the Preseason All-WAC team.
RETURNING AWARD WINNERS: GCU returns all six of it 2019 All-WAC honorable mentions in Easley, senior midfielder Justin Rasmussen, junior goalkeeper George Tasouris, junior forward Bert Wilton and senior defenders Ariel Aguas and Nick Barreiro.

SCOUTING

Houston Baptist is 0-1 in the WAC after falling 3-0 to Seattle U, the conference's preseason favorite. The Huskies were picked to finish ninth in the conference by the coaches' preseason poll, earning 28 points. HBU fought to a 0-0 tie in its first match of the season against St. Thomas.

HBU had four student-athletes selected as All-WAC honorable mentions in 2019: Dominick Faletto, Thomas Menke, Gianluca Natera and Daan Snellink. The Huskies return only Natera, a senior midfielder.

The Huskies finished 2019 in seventh place in the WAC at 5-6 (7-11 overall) and lost its first conference tournament game.

GCU leads the series against Houston Baptist 5-2. The Huskies won their last matchup 4-3 in overtime on Oct. 25, 2019.

LAST TIME OUT

GCU went 2-1 in three exhibitions last month at GCU Stadium.

For more GCU men's soccer news, notes and numbers, click here to view the match notes.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SCOUTING

LAST TIME OUT

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ariel Aguas

Nick Barreiro

Esai Easley

Justin Rasmussen

George Tasouris

Bert Wilton

Grand Canyon University Athletics