GCU hosts Arizona, travel to New Mexico

Thursday, September 1

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Arizona

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8/31/2022 3:30:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Anticipated Welcome Week match brings Wildcats to GCU Stadium

By: Jerob Moon


Grand Canyon Lopes (2-1-1)	vs	Arizona Wildcats (2-0-1)	New Mexico Lobos (1-1-1)
		Thursday, Sept. 1 7 p.m.	Sunday, Sept. 4 Noon
Match Notes		Live Video Live Stats	Live Video Live Stats

The Grand Canyon women's soccer team will return home for an anticipated Welcome Week match against in-state rival Arizona on Thursday at GCU Stadium before traveling to Albuquerque to face New Mexico.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

UNBEATEN ROADTRIP: The Lopes return from their first roadtrip of the season with a 3-0 win at UNLV on Thursday before an entertaining 3-3 draw at Utah State on Sunday. The Lopes shared the ball on the offensive side with five different players scoring a goal and eight players recording a point in both matches. Sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Ferguson collected her 10th career shutout in the win against the Rebels.
GOURLEY EARNS WEEKLY HONOR: Junior forward Gianna Gourley led the Lopes in scoring last week in route to earning her first WAC Offensive Player of the Week award. The Las Vegas native playing in front of a hometown crowd against UNLV assisted on a goal by Lindsey Prokop in the 86th minute. On Sunday, Gourley scored two second half goals against Utah State in a three-minute stretch that featured her first penalty kick goal of the season.
SEPTEMBER SLATE: September is gearing up for an challenging stretch of games for the Lopes. GCU will host Power 5 opponents Arizona and Arkansas on Sept. 1 and 11 along with conference opponent Seattle U on Sept. 30. GCU and New Mexico will match up on the road on Sept. 4 and WAC play will start at California Baptist on Sept. 17.

SCOUTING

Arizona has played a trio of Power 5 opponents to start the season featuring wins against Iowa State and Texas Tech and a 1-1 draw at Nebraska last week. The Wildcats are coming off a uncharacteristic down year in 2021 finishing 5-13 and just 2-9 in Pac-12 play. The biggest shoes that need to be filled is replacing Jill Aguilera who set the Arizona career goals record with 33 last season. The Wildcats are boosted by the return of goalkeeper Hope Hisey and her 102 saves from last year. Freshman midfielder Sami Baytosh leads the team in scoring with a goal and assist through the first three games.

New Mexico enters the 2022 season with high expectations after winning the Mountain West regular season and tournament titles last season. In the Mountain West preseason coaches poll the Lobos earned all 11 first-place votes and senior midfielder Jadyen Edwards was named to the 60-player MAC Herman Trophy Watch List. Edwards has already lived up the hype scoring a hat-trick in a 4-2 over CSU Bakersfield.