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Gourley's POY award tops 6 Lopes' All-WAC honors
10/27/2023 12:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer
GCU senior forward becomes 2nd Lope to win WAC Offensive Player of the Year
The Grand Canyon women's soccer team was well represented in the 2023 All-WAC awards announced on Friday.
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GCU senior captain forward Gianna Gourley was named WAC Offensive Player of the Year and landed on the All-WAC first team with three other Lopes starters — junior defender Aleisha Ganief and sophomore midfielders AJ Loera and Leah Pirro. Junior goalkeeper DeAira Jackson earned All-WAC second-team honors while midfielder Madison Hamm highlighted the future of GCU soccer by landing on the WAC All-Freshman Team.
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"I am extremely happy, pleased and excited for all of our honorees," Lopes head coach Chris Cissell said. "Individual awards and accolades only come to those players that are fortunate enough to be members of a great team and culture, so we all celebrate all of these awards and these players as an honor to our entire soccer family."
GCU senior forward Bekah Valdez and junior defender Sidney Roberts were also recognized by the WAC for receiving All-WAC votes.Gianna Gourley, WAC Offensive Player of the Year, All-WAC first team
Selected as the Preseason WAC Offensive Player of the Year in August, the expectation was for Gourley to continue to be one of the best goal scorers in the conference for a second straight year. The Las Vegas native did not disappoint, leading the Lopes and the WAC with 18 goals and 42 points with both those marks ranking third on the national leaderboards.
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Gourley was the catalyst for the GCU offense with five-multi goal games, including a hat trick against CSU Bakersfield while also scoring goals against Power 5 opponents Arizona and Arkansas early in the season. She set more career milestones with her 50th career goal against UT Rio Grande Valley, becoming the national career goals leader among active Division I players while also ranking third in career points among active D-I players.
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In her three seasons as a Lope, Gourley has earned three straight All-WAC first-team honors and has rewritten the GCU record books with seven career and season records, including career goals (46) and points (107).Leah Pirro, All-WAC first team
In her second season as a starter for the Lopes, Pirro helped orchestrate a GCU offense that finished in the top 12 nationally for goals, points and assists en route to earning All-WAC first-team honors.
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Pirro led the Lopes with 12 assists, a mark which ranks fourth nationally, while also scoring a goal in the regular-season finale at Tarleton State. Her 12 assists are the second most in a season in GCU program history, just two behind Marleen Schimmer's 14 assists in 2021.AJ Loera, All-WAC first team
After earning WAC All-Freshman Team honors a year ago, Loera gained a bigger role for the Lopes in her second season.
The Thornton, Colorado, native recorded six assists in 15 games while also compiling an impressive .467 shot-on-goal percentage. Loera collected five of her assists in WAC play and was the primary player to take GCU corner kicks and free kicks throughout the season.Aleisha Ganief, All-WAC first team
Ganief earned her first postseason award as a Lopes defender after a stellar season on the GCU back line.
The junior center back led the GCU defense to eight shutouts, which tied the team record that had been set last season. Ganief also was effective for the Lopes on offense, scoring four goals with all of them coming off corner kicks. All of her goals came in a two-match stretch against UT Rio Grande Valley and Stephen F. Austin.DeAira Jackson, All-WAC second team
Jackson had a sensational debut season with GCU, earning the starting goalkeeper job after transferring from Cal State Fullerton over the summer.
Jackson started all 19 games for the Lopes, finishing the regular season with a 0.90 goals against average and a .778 save percentage. Both marks rank in the top two of the conference. Individually, Jackson has six shutouts in goal this year, tying the GCU single-season shutout record. Jackson did not allow a goal in three of the final four regular-season starts.Madison Hamm, WAC All-Freshman Team
Selected by Top Drawer Soccer in the preseason as the freshman to watch in the WAC, Hamm had an excellent debut season with GCU.
Hamm appeared in 18 games with 11 starts as a defensive center midfielder assisting the GCU defense with eight shutouts. Hamm led all GCU freshman with 785 minutes played.
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GCU senior captain forward Gianna Gourley was named WAC Offensive Player of the Year and landed on the All-WAC first team with three other Lopes starters — junior defender Aleisha Ganief and sophomore midfielders AJ Loera and Leah Pirro. Junior goalkeeper DeAira Jackson earned All-WAC second-team honors while midfielder Madison Hamm highlighted the future of GCU soccer by landing on the WAC All-Freshman Team.
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"I am extremely happy, pleased and excited for all of our honorees," Lopes head coach Chris Cissell said. "Individual awards and accolades only come to those players that are fortunate enough to be members of a great team and culture, so we all celebrate all of these awards and these players as an honor to our entire soccer family."
GCU senior forward Bekah Valdez and junior defender Sidney Roberts were also recognized by the WAC for receiving All-WAC votes.
Gianna Gourley, WAC Offensive Player of the Year, All-WAC first team
Selected as the Preseason WAC Offensive Player of the Year in August, the expectation was for Gourley to continue to be one of the best goal scorers in the conference for a second straight year. The Las Vegas native did not disappoint, leading the Lopes and the WAC with 18 goals and 42 points with both those marks ranking third on the national leaderboards.Â
Gourley was the catalyst for the GCU offense with five-multi goal games, including a hat trick against CSU Bakersfield while also scoring goals against Power 5 opponents Arizona and Arkansas early in the season. She set more career milestones with her 50th career goal against UT Rio Grande Valley, becoming the national career goals leader among active Division I players while also ranking third in career points among active D-I players.
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In her three seasons as a Lope, Gourley has earned three straight All-WAC first-team honors and has rewritten the GCU record books with seven career and season records, including career goals (46) and points (107).
Leah Pirro, All-WAC first team
In her second season as a starter for the Lopes, Pirro helped orchestrate a GCU offense that finished in the top 12 nationally for goals, points and assists en route to earning All-WAC first-team honors.Â
Pirro led the Lopes with 12 assists, a mark which ranks fourth nationally, while also scoring a goal in the regular-season finale at Tarleton State. Her 12 assists are the second most in a season in GCU program history, just two behind Marleen Schimmer's 14 assists in 2021.
AJ Loera, All-WAC first team
After earning WAC All-Freshman Team honors a year ago, Loera gained a bigger role for the Lopes in her second season.The Thornton, Colorado, native recorded six assists in 15 games while also compiling an impressive .467 shot-on-goal percentage. Loera collected five of her assists in WAC play and was the primary player to take GCU corner kicks and free kicks throughout the season.
Aleisha Ganief, All-WAC first team
Ganief earned her first postseason award as a Lopes defender after a stellar season on the GCU back line.The junior center back led the GCU defense to eight shutouts, which tied the team record that had been set last season. Ganief also was effective for the Lopes on offense, scoring four goals with all of them coming off corner kicks. All of her goals came in a two-match stretch against UT Rio Grande Valley and Stephen F. Austin.
DeAira Jackson, All-WAC second team
Jackson had a sensational debut season with GCU, earning the starting goalkeeper job after transferring from Cal State Fullerton over the summer.Jackson started all 19 games for the Lopes, finishing the regular season with a 0.90 goals against average and a .778 save percentage. Both marks rank in the top two of the conference. Individually, Jackson has six shutouts in goal this year, tying the GCU single-season shutout record. Jackson did not allow a goal in three of the final four regular-season starts.
Madison Hamm, WAC All-Freshman Team
Selected by Top Drawer Soccer in the preseason as the freshman to watch in the WAC, Hamm had an excellent debut season with GCU.Hamm appeared in 18 games with 11 starts as a defensive center midfielder assisting the GCU defense with eight shutouts. Hamm led all GCU freshman with 785 minutes played.
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Major WAC awards |
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| Award | Player | School |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Gianna Gourley | Grand Canyon |
| Co-Defensive Player of the Year | Kait Raffensperger | Seattle U |
| Co-Defensive Player of the Year | Sydney Bushman | Utah Valley |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Noa Schumacher | California Baptist |
| Freshman of the Year | Kassidy Kirgan | Seattle U |
| Coach of the Year | Kristen St. Clair, | California Baptist |
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