GCU travels to UNLV, Utah State

Thursday, August 25

Las Vegas, Nev.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

UNLV

8/24/2022 1:58:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Lopes face pair of Mountain West opponents on road

By: Jerob Moon


Grand Canyon Lopes (1-1-0)	vs	UNLV Rebels (0-2)	Utah State Aggies (1-0-1)
		Thursday, Aug. 25 7 p.m.	Sunday, Aug. 28 Noon
Match Notes		Live Video Live Stats	Live Video Live Stats

The Grand Canyon women's soccer team will hit the road for the first this season, traveling to a pair of Mountain West opponents in UNLV and Utah State. The Lopes are coming off a 3-1 win in the season opener against Hawaii and a 1-0 loss to South Dakota State at home.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

WACKY WEATHER: Uncommon rainy weather in the Phoenix area caused havoc for GCU on the opening weekend of the season. On Thursday, GCU and Hawaii played only 27 minutes of the season opener before the game was postponed due to heavy rain and lightning in the area. The Lopes and Rainbow Wahine resumed play Friday at 10 a.m. finishing the match 16 1/2 hours after the kickoff. On Sunday, GCU and South Dakota State also had the start of their match pushed back to 8:30 p.m. because of rain.
GOURLEY BACKS UP HONOR: Junior forward Gianna Gourley backed up her WAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year honors in the opener with two goals against Hawaii. Gourley became the first Lope to earn the honor and had a solo goal in the 39th minute, along with another goal in the 77th minute.
STOUT DEFENSE: The GCU defense was on lockdown in its opening matches. GCU limited Hawaii and South Dakota State to just four shots each, marking the first time the Lopes have limited opponents to less than five shots in back-to-back games since October 2016. The GCU back line also limited each team to just one shot on goal in back-to-back games for the first time in the Division I era.

SCOUTING

UNLV meets GCU for the second straight season. The Lopes and Rebels faced off in GCU Stadium last year with GCU forward Camryn Larson scoring the game-winning goal in double overtime.

The Rebels started the season with two neutral-site losses to CSU Bakersfield and Rutgers, which made the 2021 College Cup, at the Lobo Invitational hosted by New Mexico. Senior defender Taylie Liddell and freshman forward Cadence Whitely scored the two goals for UNLV this season.

Utah State began the season with a 2-2 draw at Northern Arizona before returning home for a 5-0 shutout over Idaho State. The Aggies have been balanced offensively with five players scoring their seven goals. Leading scorer Jordan Foraker has two goals in just 46 minutes.

The Aggies return 14 players from last season, when it won 13 games and reached the Mountain West Tournament semifinals. Head coach Manny Martins signed a five-year extension in the offseason after taking over the program last season and setting a new program record in wins since joining the Mountain West.