Kraus starts Lopes tenure with marquee win

Thursday, August 25

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

1-0-0, 0-0-0

Virginia Tech

0-1-0, 0-0-0

Virginia Tech

Grand Canyon

8/25/2022 10:28:00 PM | Men's Soccer, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

Weller-to-Duarte goal, Prado-led GCU defense vanquish Virginia Tech 1-0

By: Paul Coro

In the lead-up to his first collegiate head coaching game, Mike Kraus' intentions of holding a pool party for his Grand Canyon players were thwarted by a hailstorm unlike any he had seen in his 11 years in the Valley.

Kraus told the Lopes that he took it as a sign that something rare is happening around them.

The season's first indication of that came Thursday night when GCU beat fellow 2021 NCAA tournament qualifier Virginia Tech 1-0, setting off another heavy shower. Kraus' Lopes players ambushed him with a deluge of water bottles to celebrate his first collegiate head coaching win in front of a crowd of 2,515 fans.

"They're feeling it," Kraus said in drenched clothes. "I'm feeling it for sure. I think the staff is. We can't wait to get the stadium full and, hopefully, a lot of the campus will feel it too."

Kraus believed the Lopes' strength would lie in their back line and the defense backed that up with the help of a goal by sophomore defender Clayton Duarte off a gorgeous assist by senior forward Cameron Weller. PHOENIX, AZ - Aug 25 : Grand Canyon tops Virginia Tech 1-0 in their season opener at GCU Stadium.

GCU senior Miguel Prado, a Preseason All-WAC honoree, keyed the defense by playing the entire game with newcomer Uriel Diaz Loza, a freshman from Mexico, logging all but one minute in front of graduate goalkeeper Anthony Munoz.

"They really carried their own weight," said senior midfielder Pedro Mondragon, who started on his birthday. "They're the ones who won the game for us. They locked it down back there. They really busted their butts and are some of the hardest-working players."

GCU limited Virginia Tech star midfielder Mayola Kinyua and kept the Hokies to one shot on goal until two more were stopped in the final two minutes. Munoz took care of one, while senior Alec LaBarge headed away a potential tying goal with 90 seconds remaining.

PHOENIX, AZ - Aug 25 : Grand Canyon tops Virginia Tech 1-0 in their season opener at GCU Stadium.

"We frustrated their attack," Kraus said. "They had a little bit more of the ball than we would have liked. But until it got late, there wasn't too much threat on our goal.

"We had a commitment from all of the guys on our team to defend. We weren't going to let them off easy and have them break down six or seven of our guys. We were committed to 11 guys in working together and keeping a clean sheet."

The Lopes attack did not score until the 61st minute, but it did not lack for threats. In the 21st minute, senior forward Shaun Joash rocketed a 15-yard shot off the crossbar after being set up by LaBarge.

LaBarge set up another opportunity two minutes into the second half, when he started a right-to-left sequence with junior defender Samuel Lossou finding sophomore midfielder Innoncent Jibril Rodet in the middle for a left-footed shot that was knocked down.

PHOENIX, AZ - Aug 25 : Grand Canyon tops Virginia Tech 1-0 in their season opener at GCU Stadium.

About 13 minutes later, Rodet dribbled upfield and set up Duarte on the left side. Duarte sent the ball into the box to Weller on a diagonal run in front of him and then cut behind him to take a perfect backheel pass from Weller. Duarte bent a 15-yard liner into the right side of the net for a 1-0 GCU lead.

"I think we had Goal of the Year on the first goal we had," Kraus said. "We can try to top it."

Weller recently had switched sides of the attack and Duarte, a Central Methodist transfer from Luxembourg, is one of 19 newcomers, but the combination chemistry was clear.

"It was a good connection with Weller," Duarte said. "That's what we practiced during all week. We just did it in the game again and scored.

"It was perfect. My first goal. First goal of the team. First win. It was important for everybody to be confident for the next game and it was an important game to play for all the supporters who came."

Kraus saw the supportive team culture that he felt was paramount to have in the opener, but he expects growth in controlling possession and creating attacks.

Part of the huge turnout came from Real Salt Lake Arizona, the organization in which Kraus served as academy director before taking the reins of the Lopes in May.

GCU will want more of that support for the quick turnaround to a 7:30 p.m. Sunday game against Denver, the team that ousted the Lopes from last season's NCAA tournament 1-0. It is the type of weekend that could return the Lopes to the national top 25 after receiving votes in the preseason poll, as did Virginia Tech.

"This is what we want," Kraus said. "Once it comes November and December, it's tough game after tough game after tough game. It was a credit to the previous staff that put this nonconference gauntlet together, but my staff and I and the team wouldn't want it any other way. We want to be challenged. We want to be considered seriously nationally and the only way to do that is to go up against big teams and get the results."