GCU, San Jose State set for Sunday matinee

Sunday, October 15

San Jose, Calif.

1 p.m. (Phoenix time)

Grand Canyon

San Jose State

Phoenix, AZ Oct. 8, 2023: GCU beats UTRGV 4-1 at GCU Stadium. Photo David Kadlubowski/GCU

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

10/14/2023 12:56:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Live Stats Watch Game Notes

By: Nick Macdonald

Sunday, Oct. 15 \| 2 p.m. \| Spartan Soccer Complex \| San Jose, Calif.

	SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (5-5-4, 2-2-1 WAC)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (6-4-2, 1-1-1 WAC)

WATCH: WAC International \| STATS: Link

AT A GLANCE

After a week off, Grand Canyon heads on the road for an afternoon contest at San Jose State Sunday, Oct. 15 at 2 p.m.
GCU has five games left in the regular season, including three away contests and two at GCU Stadium. The Lopes are 5-0-1 at home, with a 1-4-1 record on the road. The top six teams earn a berth to the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas, and GCU is currently tied for sixth in the WAC standings.
Junior goalie Leon Schmidt ranks eighth nationally with 58 saves. He has eight games with at least five saves this season and has recorded three shutouts, all of which have come at home. He's 14th in the country in saves per game (4.8) and second in the WAC and 25th nationally with a .795 save percentage.
Sophomore forward Bright Nutornutsi has tallied a point in nine of 12 games this season, including seven of his past eight. Nutornutsi scored the third goal in GCU's 4-1 victory over UTRGV Oct. 10, the second in as many games. His 20 points are 10th in the country, while his 0.67 goals per game lead the conference.
Sophomore Cameron Cruz is second in the WAC in assists (5). He tallied two against UTRGV as the Lopes are 4-0 when Cruz registers an assist.
GCU is 6-2-1 when scoring the first goal of the game and 0-2-1 when the opposition scores first. It's 4-0 on the season when scoring three goals and is 3-0-2 when allowing only one goal.
Multiple Lopes have won WAC Player of the Week awards this season, including Leon Schmidt (3 times), Clayton Duarte (2), Bright Nutornutsti and Uriel Diaz Loza. Duarte recently won Defense Player of the Week Tuesday, Oct. 10.

A BRIGHT SPOT ON OFFENSE

Sophomore forward Bright Nutornutsi has showcased his offensive skills this season, ranking among the best in the nation in goals and points.
Nutornutsi has tallied a point in nine of 12 games for the Lopes, scoring in seven of those contests. GCU is 5-1-1 when he scores a goal this season.
The forward leads the team in shots on goal (12) and has the highest shot on goal percentage (.600).
As of Saturday, he leads the WAC in points per game (1.67), goals per game (0.67) and is tied for first in points (20) and goals (8).

FIVE GAMES LEFT IN REGULAR SEASON

GCU has five games remaining in its regular season schedule, two of which are at home and three on the road.
The top six teams in the WAC standings earn a berth to the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas, with the top two teams earning a first round bye.
The Lopes are tied for sixth in the conference standings with four points. A win Sunday would move them to seven points, the current position of San Jose State, who is fourth in the standings.
GCU began the 2022 WAC slate 0-1-1 before going 4-2-1 over the final seven games. It started this season 0-1-1 in conference action, but earned its first win over UTRGV last Sunday.

WHAT'S NEXT?

GCU closes out its home schedule with back-to-back games in Phoenix beginning Thursday, Oct. 19 vs. Utah Tech.
It closes out the week Sunday, Oct. 22 vs. UNLV for senior night at GCU Stadium.