Lopes deliver Griffin win No. 1 at GCU

Thursday, August 26

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

1-0-0, 0-0-0

Illinois-Chicago

0-1-0, 0-0-0

UIC

Grand Canyon

8/26/2021 10:55:00 PM | Men's Soccer, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

No. 22 GCU lives up to billing by downing Illinois-Chicago 3-1 in home opener

By: Paul Coro

Leonard Griffin's first tunnel walk to the GCU Stadium field for a game did not come without nerves. He was so excited that it made him miss playing, but the former Major League Soccer player found out just how talented his team is on Thursday night.

The 22nd-ranked Lopes downed Horizon League power Illinois-Chicago 3-1 in Griffin's GCU head coaching debut. And it was no small feat, considering seven other top-25 teams took losses or ties to unranked teams on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, a GCU team with every goal scorer returning from an NCAA tournament team saw a newcomer, Furman transfer Shaun-Chris Joash, opening the scoring in the 10th minute. By the 52nd minute, the Lopes had taken a 3-0 lead on the Flames, who went 40-20-7 over the previous three seasons.

Leonard Griffin

"Special," Griffin said of his first GCU win. "I was confident. I saw what we had in preseason. For the most part, we're coming together the way we want to."

The Lopes teased their offensive prowess early with Joash firing wide and a shot by fifth-year player Tosh Yasuda being broken up.

But at the close of the 10th minute, GCU fifth-year wing Justin Rasmussen put a hesitation move on a Flames defender near midfield to get ahead on the sideline as he saw Joash upfield and pointing to space ahead of him.

Joash, a 5-foot-11 junior forward, worked to the ball side of his defender, who he outraced to the box and the ball before he dropped the goaltender to his knees with a left-footed blast into the net's right side.
Shaun-Chris Joash

"Shaun has been outstanding, honestly," said Rasmussen, who was named one of 44 Hermann Trophy finalists on Thursday. "His work rate is great. He works so hard off the ball and on the ball, getting up and down, making runs and getting in spaces where we can find him and let him have the freedom to do his thing. It's nice when I take that touch and I can peek up and see him in the distance. It's a calming effect."

Joash, an England native, scored nine goals in two seasons at Furman but separately used the same phrase as Rasmussen about his new team: "The sky's the limit."

"I wouldn't put any limits on this team," Joash said. "We can do anything we want to do really. I played against the top teams in college soccer and I wouldn't put too much difference between us and them.

"This team took me in straight away. It's a real team environment. You can tell everyone gets along. It's good to be here."

GCU outshot Illinois-Chicago 7-2 in the first half but the lead remained 1-0 at halftime despite more threats from Joash and sophomore midfielder Edgar Soto.

Seventy-six seconds into the second half, Rasmussen gave GCU a 2-0 lead when junior midfielder Alec LaBarge set him up for a one-on-one with the goalkeeper on the left side. Rasmussen's shot was so powerful that it went through the goalkeeper's hands.

In limited minutes, the front four of Rasmussen, Joash, senior forward Marco Afonso and sophomore forward Maximilian Moeller took seven of GCU's 12 shots and put four on goal.

"You can't pin one down because there are at least three or four other guys open that are very dangerous," Griffin said.

In the 53rd minute, Soto's aggressive attacks paid off when he was upfield alongside Joash after Afonso worked the ball ahead. Soto won a 50-50 ball and Joash put a lateral touch on it to set up Soto's left-to-right goal.

"The kid is a competitor," Griffin said of Soto, a Belton, Texas, native who did not play last season. "He's had a fantastic

preseason. He came in extremely fit and he's earned every minute he got tonight. That goal was a byproduct of the work he has put in."

Lopes senior goalkeeper Anthony Munoz won in his first start behind a solid defensive effort from the line of seniors Esai Easley and Alejandro Fernandez Alcaide and junior defender Rodolfo Prado in his GCU debut.

"You're happy with the win and you always want more," Griffin said. "I think we have something special brewing. As the season goes, we'll clean up some things. Onto the next one. We learn a little about ourselves and push to get better each day."

GCU plays CSU Bakersfield at 7 p.m. Sunday in GCU Stadium.