GCU hosts Houston Baptist in season opener

Saturday, February 20

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Houston Baptist

2/19/2021 9:56:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Match Notes

Lopes open WAC play at home against Huskies

By: Cassidy Mace


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.