GCU Tournament brings in visiting trio


Grand Canyon Lopes (5-1)	vs	Denver Pioneers (4-1)	New Mexico Lobos (2-2)
		Thursday, Sept. 9 8 p.m.	Saturday, Sept. 11 8 p.m.
Match Notes		Live Video Live Stats	Live Video Live Stats

The Grand Canyon women's soccer will welcome Denver, New Mexico and Northern Arizona to GCU Stadium this weekend for the GCU Tournament. Northern Arizona will face New Mexico and Denver in neutral-site matches on Thursday and Friday, respectively, at 5:30 p.m. before the Lopes play in the nightcaps at 8 p.m. GCU will take on Denver on Thursday night and New Mexico on Saturday night.

The winning team will earn a plaque and an all-tournament team will be announced after the tournament. Saturday's game for GCU will be Senior Night with 17 players being honored before the 8 p.m. game.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

LARSON'S HEROICS: Fifth-year forward Camryn Larson did it all for the Lopes last week as she earned the first WAC Offensive Player of the Week honor of her career. Larson scored the first of three second-half goals at NAU and the game-winning goal against UNLV in double overtime. Her performance moved her into third place in GCU's points and goals scored record book with 36 points and 16 goals, respectively.
OVERTIME THRILLER: Sunday's match against UNLV was the first overtime win for the Lopes since 2016. GCU took a 1-0 lead on a Breanna Alderson header off a Marleen Schimmer corner just before halftime. UNLV tied it with 10 minutes left in regulation with its only shot on goal all game. The Lopes won in the second overtime when Larson finished with a right-footed shot in the 105th minute.
THROWBACK THURSDAY: Thursday's match between GCU and Denver is a historic one. The Lopes' first-ever match as a soccer program came against the same Pioneers on Sept. 6, 1996. It was a 3-3 draw and kicked off what has been 25 years of soccer before the two teams meet again. This will be the programs' first meeting as Division I opponents.

SCOUTING

Denver will hit the road for the first time this season when it faces NAU on Thursday at GCU Stadium. The Pioneers started the season with a 4-1 homestand that concluded with a 4-2 loss to SMU on Monday.

Junior forward Sydney Sharp leads the team with three goals on just 12 shots while teammate Natalie Beckman ranks eighth in the nation with five assists this season. The Pioneers have reached three of the past four NCAA tournaments, including a 17-3-1 team that advanced to the second round in the spring. Nine starters return from that team.

New Mexico plays on the road for the next three games after stunning Pac-12 foe Washington at home on Sunday. The Lobos scored twice in the final 10 minutes, including the game-winning goal with 59 seconds left. New Mexico's two losses match its total from the spring, when it reached the NCAA tournament and defeated Navy on penalty kicks in the first round.

Freshman forward Zaria Katesigwa has been the leader offensively despite the Lobos' 22 returners from last season. Katesigwa scored the winning goal against Washington and added two goals in a 5-1 win against Dixie State on Aug. 22.

WHAT'S NEXT

GCU will travel to UC San Diego for a match on Sept. 19

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

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SCOUTING

WHAT'S NEXT

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Camryn Larson

Marleen Schimmer

Grand Canyon University Athletics