Seniors slay on Senior Day, lead 8-0 win

Sunday, October 15

Phoenix, Ariz.

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

10-4-3, 4-1-2

Stephen F. Austin

2-14-1, 1-6-1

SFA

Grand Canyon

Phoenix, AZ Oct. 15, 2023: GCU shuts out Stephen F. Austin 8-0 in their home finale at GCU Stadium. Photo David Kadlubowski/GCU

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

10/15/2023 5:11:00 PM | Women's Soccer, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

GCU's Ganief, Gourley each score twice for 2nd consecutive game

By: Paul Coro

Before the eight goals on Sunday and eighth shutout of the season, Senior Day already was already special.

The Lopes' nine departing seniors arrived to a decorated locker room of gifts, personal notes from teammates and relatives and a video showing their soccer life arcs. The emotions could have been difficult to corral for a critical match in the WAC race, but the Lopes – and seniors, in particular – proved to be harder to corral on Sunday at GCU Stadium.

The Lopes' three front-line seniors scored each of the first three goals in 23 minutes to set off a spree that ended in an 8-0 victory over Stephen F. Austin. Senior forward Gianna Gourley and junior defender Aleisha Ganief each scored twice for the second consecutive match to help GCU have its highest-scoring game since 2016 vs. Chicago State (9-0).

Phoenix, AZ Oct. 15, 2023: GCU shuts out Stephen F. Austin 8-0 in their home finale at GCU Stadium. Photo David Kadlubowski/GCU

"These girls are more than just a soccer team," Gourley said. "It's a family. It just makes you feel really special and loved. It's a great job that we've made that culture real."

To show how much this senior class has turned around the program, GCU scored one fewer goal in the past two games combined (13) than it had for the entire 2019 season (14) before head coach Chris Cissell's arrival.

"It's emotional for me, too," Cissell said. "I was talking about Senior Day being so tough on the players and parents, but it's tough on the coaches when you have players like this and players who you have spent so much time with. I'm so happy that we had five goals scored by seniors. That's really cool. It couldn't have gone better."

Gourley's historic GCU career has two regular-season games and the postseason remaining, but she and her fellow seniors played their final home match with implications. The win pushed the Lopes past Seattle U and Utah Tech in the standings, leaving GCU (14 points) in third place after California Baptist (15 points) also won Sunday night at UT Rio Grande Valley.

With two goals Sunday, Gourley matched her all-time, single-season record of 18 goals that she set last season in 20 games. She reached her 18th goal in her 17th game this season, when she ranks third nationally behind Nebraska's Eleanor Dale (21 goals) and Texas' Lexi Missimo (19 goals).

Gourley also increased her lead as the nation's leader in career goals (52) among active Division I players. Oklahoma's Emma Hawkins is the next closest with 49.

"It was a mix of emotions," Gourley said. "The girls did such a good job of making the day special with pictures, setting up the locker room and gift baskets. That energy carried over to the field with a mix of emotions. We're all crying and laughing. It was a special close. It was a great way to end a career, but we also have more work to do too."

Gourley opened the scoring in the fourth minute when senior forward Lindsey Prokop had the ball taken away but retrieved it and centered to sophomore midfielder Leah Pirro, who tied for second nationally in assists with her 12th of the season. Pirro quickly fed Gourley on the right side outside the box, where she went back and forth to send a defender backtracking before she fired the ball into the far side of the net for a 1-0 lead.

Phoenix, AZ Oct. 15, 2023: GCU shuts out Stephen F. Austin 8-0 in their home finale at GCU Stadium. Photo David Kadlubowski/GCU

Despite taking 12 shots with nine on goal in the first 18 minutes, the Lopes did not score again until the 22nd minute with Gourley's through ball setting up senior forward Bekah Valdez. Maneuvering to the center top of the box, Valdez put a shot in the only spot the goalkeeper could not reach it for an upper-90 goal and 2-0 lead.

It was Valdez's 11th goal in two GCU seasons with 14 assists after scoring four goals with no assists in three seasons at San Diego.

"I was really emotional," Valdez said. "The girls made it a really memorable day. I appreciate all of them for it. It's crazy in the locker room. There's confetti everywhere. It was amazing.

"The girls are amazing to play with, not that my old team wasn't. But it's such a great environment, and I love every aspect of it from the coaches to the players."

Phoenix, AZ Oct. 15, 2023: GCU shuts out Stephen F. Austin 8-0 in their home finale at GCU Stadium. Photo David Kadlubowski/GCU

The senior scoring relay continued with Prokop scoring possibly her career's best goal. Prokop took possession near midfield and essentially assisted herself with a long ball past a defender. When she encountered another defender wide right of the middle of the box, Prokop fired from an acute angle with the perfect lift to the find the far corner of the net and give GCU a 3-0 edge in the 23rd minute.

It was Prokop's 25th career goal, 17 of which have come at GCU since following Cissell from Kansas City.

"On Thursday, when I took that shot and the goalkeeper saved it, I thought 'That could've been a career goal,' " Prokop said. "That was insane that she saved that, so I was happy that I could do it today. It was very special. I didn't even expect it to go in. People in the locker room at halftime were saying they were walking back for a goal kick and realized everybody was cheering."

Ganief, the defender who scored her first two career goals in Thursday night's 5-0 win, repeated the feat. Her first Sunday goal came on a header off sophomore midfielder AJ Loera's corner for a 4-0 lead in the 27th minute.

It was 5-0 by the 29th minute when Gourley hit a free kick from 25 yards over a four-defender wall and lofted it into the lower-left pocket of the net. After not having notched a five-goal half since 2016, the Lopes have pulled it off in consecutive seasons.

Phoenix, AZ Oct. 15, 2023: GCU shuts out Stephen F. Austin 8-0 in their home finale at GCU Stadium. Photo David Kadlubowski/GCU

Loera added her seventh assist of the season on another corner kick early in the second half, when junior defender Destinee Duran-Wise headed the pass into the net from 10 yards out as she was slammed to the grass.

Ganief's second goal stretched the lead to 7-0 in the 62nd minute when junior defender Sidney Roberts made a brilliant header to keep a Loera corner kick inbounds. Junior midfielder Brenna Alderson, in her third game back from injury, touched the carom as she was knocked down and Ganief scored from the goal box.

Cissell rotated 23 players, including seven of the nine seniors. Goalkeeper Cassidy Samuelson and forward Maya Gaona could not play because of injury, but Gourley, Prokop and Valdez were joined by fellow seniors Jordan Ferguson, Jaycee Iranshad, Magdalena Schwarz and Carly Waller.

In the 87th minute, Schwarz closed the 8-0 win's scoring with her third goal of the season off a long rocket pass into the box by sophomore midfielder Grace Bartlett. Ferguson played the second half in net to finish the Lopes' eighth shutout, matching last season's Division I-era program best.

"We're clicking on all cylinders, and we're playing really good soccer at the right time of year," Cissell said. "I've been telling them, 'It's how you finish, and now how you start.' Now, we've got two tough games in Texas. We need to get six points there and see what happens."

Phoenix, AZ Oct. 15, 2023: GCU shuts out Stephen F. Austin 8-0 in their home finale at GCU Stadium. Photo David Kadlubowski/GCU