Gourley sets record; Lopes barrage falls shy

Thursday, October 27

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

9-6-2, 5-4-1

New Mexico State

9-4-3, 6-2-2

New Mexico St.

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Skyler Coblentz

10/27/2022 10:05:00 PM | Women's Soccer, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

GCU drops 2-1 decision to NMSU despite 24-10 shot advantage

By: Paul Coro

The match numbers lied to Grand Canyon women's soccer again Thursday night.

The Lopes did what it has done all season with a lopsided shot advantage but had to leave GCU Stadium lamenting that only one shot found the net.

Junior forward Gianna Gourley broke the GCU all-time record for goals in a season when she scored her 14th goal but collapsed in frustration at the horn after her last one was stopped.

Despite outshooting New Mexico State 24-10, the Lopes lost 2-1 to delay clinching a WAC Tournament spot until the final day of the regular season Saturday. GCU (9-6-2, 5-4-1 WAC) needs a win or tie against Sam Houston or a Southern Utah loss at Seattle U to earn a spot. The Lopes still could move up to the No. 5 seed with a win and a California Baptist loss to New Mexico State.

GCU vs. NMSU

"We weren't happy with the way we played in the first half, and we really challenged them at halftime," GCU head coach Chris Cissell said. "They responded extremely well. I thought we were fantastic in the second half. We're hitting posts and crossbars and getting balls cleared off the line. It was just one of those days in soccer."

The Lopes have outshot their opponent in all but three games this season and by an average of 15.4 shots in the past seven games. Thursday's 14-shot GCU advantage was on par for how it had been playing during a five-match winning streak.

Trailing 2-0, the Lopes put the Aggies (8-4-3, 5-2-2 WAC) under siege with eight of those shots coming in the game's final 13 minutes.

GCU finally converted in the 80th minute when sophomore midfielder Brenna Alderson made a move in the box that forced New Mexico State defender Landy Williams to take her down with a foul. That set up a penalty kick for Gourley, who punched it into the right side of the net for her 14th goal of the season.

That put Gourley in a tie for the fifth-most goals in the nation and broke the GCU single-season record of 13, which was set in 2005 by Vanessa Young and tied last season by Marleen Schimmer.

"I'm not the type of person to think about that stuff," Gourley said. "Great people held that record, so it's obviously cool. That's a focus for after the season."

GCU vs. NMSU

Gourley took nine of the Lopes' shots Friday night and put one of them off the crossbar in the 78th minute, when junior forward Lindsey Prokop centered the ball to junior forward Jaycee Iranshard and it deflected to Gourley to control with her chest for a shot.

The Las Vegas native has scored in six consecutive games with seven goals (half of her season total) coming in five of those games.

"I'm super happy for G," Cissell said. "I'm super proud of her. She's worked really hard for it. She's had an amazing season so far, and hopefully she has a bunch more goals in her on Saturday and going into the WAC Tournament next week. To have 14 goals and break Marleen Schimmer's record from last season, when she was a first-round draft pick and ninth overall, with one game left is pretty amazing. Every single team we play, their whole game plan is to shut her down. She's taken a lot of hits and fouls, so it's more impressive that she's figured out a way to still be that effective."

New Mexico State took a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute off a corner kick to midfielder Lorna McNeese, who scored her ninth goal of the season. GCU made several pushes to tie before halftime, including a header over the goal, an Alderson shot that required a diving save and a nifty back-kick attempt by junior forward Magdalena Schwarz.

"We didn't come out how we wanted to and that's something we're going to work on in the future because it's happened a few games this season, but I'm proud of the girls and how we fought the second half," Gourley said.

The Lopes held a 15-5 advantage in shots in the second half with some going wide or over and other chances missing on the pass connection. It marked the third time this season that they did not win with 24 or more shots.

GCU will get a final chance to convert goals at home Saturday, when it plays Sam Houston at 7 p.m. for Senior Night.

"We still get to control our destiny, which is awesome," Cissell said. "We still have work to do, but I'm glad we're getting our chance. I told the girls, 'The soccer gods are shining down on us.' "