CHICAGO – The Grand Canyon women's soccer team wrapped up a successful two-game road trip with a 4-0 win over Chicago State on Saturday.
The Lopes (5-8, 5-4 WAC) were tied at halftime with the Cougars (0-13, 0-11 WAC) before exploding in the second half with four goals on 14 shots. GCU is now winners of three of their last four matches and are above .500 in WAC play for the first time since 2016.
In the first half, the Lopes and Cougars were locked in a stalemate with GCU holding the possession and shot advantage at 7-2. Chicago State threatened once in the 34th minute with a free kick outside the penalty box, but the shot was saved by GCU freshman goalkeeper
Jordan Ferguson.
In the second half, the Lopes offense switched into a different gear and freshman
Brenna Alderson helped lead the charge with a pair of goals.
In the 56th minute, Alderson received a pass from
Dani Babb in the middle of the box and had her initial shot blocked but stayed with the ball and scored on her second shot. Just seven minutes later, Alderson scored her second goal off an assist from
Jaycee Iranshad.
Twenty minutes later in the 86th minute, Iranshad scored with a shot that found the bottom left corner with
Raeanne Jones earning an assist for the second straight game.
The Lopes weren't done scoring, as senior
Haley Bostard scored her first GCU goal in the 89th minute with a left-footed shot outside of the box after passes by
Raquel Hagar and
Lindsey Prokop set up the shot.
Bostard's goal capped off a 10-goal series performance for the Lopes against Chicago State while the team outshot the Cougars 41-8. Ferguson picked up two wins and a shutout today in goal while backup
Kayla King played 19 minutes off the bench.
GCU will host its final two regular-season games at GCU Stadium next week against California Baptist on April 1 and 3.