Lopes fall in WAC opener

Friday, September 30

St. George, Utah

6:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

3-5-1, 0-1-0

Utah Tech

3-6-0, 1-0-0

Grand Canyon

Utah Tech

Photo by: Zach Campbell

9/30/2022 8:50:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

GCU drops 2-1 decision at Utah Tech on Friday evening

By: Nick Macdonald

ST. GEORGE, Utah – The Grand Canyon men's soccer team fell on the road, 2-1, at Utah Tech in its first conference match of the season.

GCU (3-5-1, 0-1 WAC) held most of the offensive possession early in the Friday night contest, forcing a corner in the fourth minute and junior midfielder Samuel Lossou put the first shot on target high of the net in the eighth minute. Utah Tech (3-6, 1-0) capitalized on its first shot of the match, scoring in the 12th minute to lead 1-0.

The Trailblazers added to their lead in the 39th minute as a shot from the top right of the 18-yard box connected with the far-left portion of the net for the goal. The Utah Tech lead remained 2-0 after 45 minutes.

GCU's offense turned it up a notch in the second half, recording two shots within the half's first three minutes. It tallied three shots for the entire first half. The Lopes' third shot of the second half in the 61st minute put them on the board as senior forward Cameron Weller took a pass inside the box from freshman forward Zion Long for the score. The goal was Weller's first of the season.

The Lopes offense recorded only one more shot after the goal for the remainder of the half, as it was held in check for the remaining 29 minutes. GCU's last-minute attempt at a tie fell short as sophomore defender Clayton Duarte passed inside to Lossou, who tried to flick the ball over a diving Trailblazer goalkeeper. The ball found the hands of the keeper and Utah Tech prevailed.

The conference loss was only the third since 2020 and marked the first time since Oct. 5, 2014 (at UNLV) that the Lopes fell in their conference opener.

GCU plays again Sunday at UNLV with a start of 7:30 p.m. (Phoenix time). The Lopes return home the following weekend for a Oct. 7 game versus Utah Valley and an Oct. 9 game against California Baptist.