NCAA bid chance looms after title game loss

Saturday, April 17

Las Vegas, Nev.

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

8-1-0, 7-0-0

Air Force

7-4-1, 4-4-1

Air Force

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Lucas Peltier/WAC

4/17/2021 5:39:00 PM | Men's Soccer, Paul Coro

Box Score

GCU takes 1st loss of season to Air Force in WAC Tournament championship

By: Paul Coro

LAS VEGAS – For some Grand Canyon men's soccer players, the scenario of a team getting hot in the WAC Tournament was all too familiar.

GCU was that team two seasons ago to capture the WAC Tournament title. GCU was the team on the other end in Saturday's WAC Tournament championship, where sixth-seeded Air Force won its sixth consecutive game to become the first team to defeat the top-seeded Lopes this season.

A 3-0 loss left GCU players sitting, standing and lying on the UNLV field, contemplating their NCAA tournament fate as the Falcons celebrated their automatic NCAA tournament berth. The Lopes (8-1) have made a strong case for an at-large berth, entering the tournament with a No. 16 ranking in the coaches' poll and a No. 6 ranking in the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index.

Hugo Logan

Until the 36-team field with 14 at-large bids is announced at 9 a.m. Monday, GCU does not know if its season will continue and if retiring head coach Schellas Hyndman's Hall of Fame career will be extended.

"I'd rather be in our position than many other teams', but we'll have to wait to get the call," Hyndman said.

"The boys fought throughout it. I'm disappointed for GCU. We had such a wonderful year to end in this manner. We have to think about all the great things we did and not just the disappointment."

That was difficult for the Lopes, as senior midfielder Tosh Yasuda, junior goalkeeper George Tasouris and freshman forward Maximilian Moeller accepted All-WAC Tournament Team awards near the Air Force jubilation.

GCU went from allowing three goals in the past six games to yielding three goals that put Tasouris in impossible situations. In the game's eighth minute, all appeared well when Tasouris made a leaping catch on an Air Force shot that most goalkeepers do even deflect. George Tasouris

The Falcons (7-4-1) took one other shot – a misfired header – in the game's first 35 minutes while GCU fired five, including senior forward Justin Rasmussen bending a shot just wide of the left post and getting another shot stopped on a great upfield pass by Yasuda.

Tasouris staved off Air Force threats when he jumped above a pack to catch a throw-in to the box and when he dived to save a touch shot at the goal's doorstep. But one more golden chance proved too much when WAC Tournament MVP Quinn Matoulis' corner kick found Air Force teammate London Aghedo for a 1-0 lead less than three minutes before halftime.

"We went into halftime kind of shaken and we tried to get things right and they scored within five minutes of the second half and buried us," Hyndman said.

In the fourth minute of the second half, Matoulis struck a perfect shot from atop the box and scored in the upper left corner for a 2-0 Falcons lead.

"George did everything he possibly could," Hyndman said of his WAC Defensive Player of the Year. "They were great goals. The thing that concerns us is we didn't jump on them early in the game. Quite honestly, it wasn't our day to capitalize on goal-scoring chances."

After already losing junior defender Alejandro Fernandez Alcaide to injury in Thursday's semifinal victory, the Lopes lost junior midfielder Alexis Canales to an ankle injury Saturday and GCU senior defender Ariel Aguas to a devastating red card with 19 minutes remaining.

Marios Andreou

Air Force's Lathan Spadafora split GCU's defense for the final goal in the 83rd minute, avenging the Falcons' loss at GCU last month.

"It's always tough when you lose in a final, but we have to keep our heads up because we had a great season," said Lopes junior midfielder Marios Andreou, who stood on the field with Easley applauding the Falcons as they received the trophy. "Hopefully, we continue. If we don't, we should be proud of ourselves."

GCU outshot Air Force 12-8, had the same number of shots on goal (five), had more corner kicks (4-3) and possessed the ball more (52%-48%). But only the 3-0 final mattered to put its NCAA tournament hopes in peril.

"Every single one of us gave everything and didn't want to lose," Tasouris said. "They were the better team on the field. It just wasn't our time today.

"I believe we deserve it (an NCAA tournament spot). If they're looking at records, we should go. If it's meant to be, it'll be."

WAC history is on GCU's side. The WAC is considered one of the better conferences in the nation for men's soccer and has earned two bids in two of the previous three NCAA tournaments, including GCU and Air Force advancing in 2018.

This year's field was reduced from 48 to 36 with 22 of those spots going to automatic qualifiers.

"I'm a positive person so I hope that we'll get the bid, that we've done enough all year to get the bid," Hyndman said. "If it is the last game that I coach, it's a sour one."