Lopes win 5th straight with 4-0 shutout

Sunday, October 23

St. George, Utah

12 p.m.

Grand Canyon

9-5-2, 5-3-1

Southern Utah

9-4-2, 4-3-2

Grand Canyon

Southern Utah

10/23/2022 4:10:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Despite last-minute site change, Gourley leads GCU at Southern Utah

By: Jerob Moon

ST. GEORGE, Utah – The Grand Canyon women's soccer team wrapped up the final regular-season road trip by extending its winning streak to five games with a 4-0 victory over Southern Utah on Sunday.

Weather played a factor, moving the match fromi Cedar City to St. George because of snow on Southern Utah's home field. Despite the location change to Dixie High School, the Lopes (9-5-2, 5-3-1 WAC) shut down the Thunderbirds (9-4-2, 4-3-2 WAC) en route to their fourth shutout in the past six games.

"I'm super proud of our soccer family after this weekend," GCU head coach Chris Cissell said. "They played two really good teams and faced a lot of adversity in travel and change of game times. But at the end of the day we are coming back to Phoenix with two wins, six points, and a pair of shutouts on the road."

The Lopes were aggressive in the first half with 16 shots and took the lead in the 23rd minute, thanks to team captain Gianna Gourley. The junior forward scored a point-blank shot for her 12th goal of the season after a great run and pass from forward Bekah Valdez.

GCU took a 1-0 lead into halftime after locking down Southern Utah to two shots and none on goal.

The Lopes were efficient on offense in the second half, scoring three goals on nine shots. The first goal in the second half was scored again by Gourley in the 53rd minute for her WAC-leading 13th goal. The Las Vegas native received a long pass from sophomore midfielder Brenna Alderson before firing a 30-yard chip shot that caught the Southern Utah goalkeeper out and bounced into the net for her fourth multi-goal game of the season.

Gourley ranks seventh nationally 13 goals and tied the GCU single-season record for goals with at least two home matches remaining to break the mark set by Marleen Schimmer last season and Vanessa Young in 2005.

The Lopes leaned on their depth the rest of the way with junior midfielder Magdalena Schwarz and sophomore forward Maya Gaona coming off the bench to score goals in the 64th and 83rd minutes, respectively. Sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Ferguson also came off the bench and faced a season-high 14 shots while making three saves in the team's second consecutive shutout.

GCU sits at fifth in the WAC standings with two matches remaining in the regular season at home next week. The Lopes will look to climb higher with matches against New Mexico State and Sam Houston on Oct. 27 and 29, respectively, in GCU Stadium.