WAC Tournament kicks off against Utah Tech

WAC Tournament first round | Wednesday, Nov. 2 | 7 p.m. | Seattle, Wash. | Championship Field


Grand Canyon Lopes (10-6-2)	vs.	Utah Tech Trailblazers (10-5-2)
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The Grand Canyon women's soccer team will begin its WAC Tournament title defense with a first-round matchup against No. 4 seed Utah Tech. The Lopes, who are seeded fifth, are coming off a 6-0 win in the regular-season finale against Sam Houston on Saturday.

Fans can catch all the WAC Tournament games live on ESPN+.

3 THINGS TO KNOW

ALL-WAC AWARDS: The Lopes were well represented in the All-WAC awards with four players being recognized. Junior forward Gianna Gourley was named to the All-WAC first team for the second straight season. Defender Reese Mendenhall and midfielder Leah Pirro earned All-WAC second-team honors while midfielder AJ Loera was named to the Freshman All-WAC team. The Lopes have now had a player earn Freshman All-WAC honors for four straight seasons.
RECORD BREAKER: Gourley has been rewriting the GCU records book as of late. Her penalty kick goal against New Mexico State broke the GCU single-season record with her 14th goal. Two days later against Sam Houston, the junior forward added onto her total with the first hat trick by a Lope this season. Gourley's 39 points are close to breaking the single-season record and she is tied for the GCU career goal record with 27 and is one off of the career points record with 63. Gourley is tied for third in the nation for goals with 17.
ROAD WIN REMATCH: The Lopes and Trailblazers met in the regular season with GCU winning 1-0 on the road on Oct. 21. In the close game, Gourley assisted on the game-winning goal scored by junior forward Lindsey Prokop in the 75th minute. GCU edged Utah Tech 17-12 in shots while each team had six corner kicks.

SCOUTING
Utah Tech has been the best defensive team in the WAC with just 11 goals allowed all season. Goalkeeper Kayla Thompson has allowed just eight goals and led the WAC with a 0.53 goals against average. Offensively, the Trailblazers have been middle of the pack with 20 goals scored this year. Those 20 goals have been shared by 11 players, including junior forward Karli Nyland leading the way with five goals and 12 points.

This is the first WAC Tournament appearance for the Trailblazers in their third season at the Division I level.

WHAT'S NEXT?

With a win, the Lopes would play the No. 1 seed and WAC regular-season champion Utah Valley on Friday at 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) in the semifinals.

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

Grand Canyon University Athletics

WAC Tournament first round | Wednesday, Nov. 2 | 7 p.m. | Seattle, Wash. | Championship Field

3 THINGS TO KNOW

WHAT'S NEXT?

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