GCU hosts No. 17 Seattle U on Thursday night

Thursday, October 5

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Seattle U

10/4/2023 3:09:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Lopes return home, play next 4 of 5 conference games at GCU Stadium

By: Nick Macdonald

Thursday, Oct. 5 \| 7 p.m. \| GCU Stadium \| Phoenix, Ariz.

	#17 Seattle U LANCERS (7-2-2, 2-0 WAC)	at	GRAND CANYON LOPES (5-4-1, 0-1 WAC)

WATCH: ESPN+ \| STATS: Link \| TICKETS: Link

The Lopes return home after a two-match road trip with two straight games at GCU Stadium, the first against No. 17 Seattle U on Thursday evening.
GCU is 4-0 at home and has outscored its opposition 10-1 in its four games in Phoenix. The Lopes are 38-16-4 at home since the stadium opened in 2016 and are 7-1-1 at home against WAC opponents since 2021.
Junior goalkeeper Leon Schmidt ranks third nationally with 53 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 16th in the country in goalie minutes played (900) and seventh in saves per game (5.3). He is also the WAC leader (35th in nation) with a .791 save percentage.
The Lopes are 1-1-1 against nationally ranked teams this season and 2-2-2 since the 2022 season.
In GCU's four home games, the Lopes have scored 10 goals, tallied 13 assists and registered 19 saves. Two-thirds of the team's scoring has come at home while 72% of assists have come at GCU Stadium.
Thursday's match sees the top two scorers in the WAC, featuring the Lopes' Bright Nutornutsi (16 points, six goals) and Seattle U's James Morris (18 points, seven goals). Morris ranks first in the conference in points per game (1.64) with Nutornutsi right behind him at 1.60 per contest.
Multiple Lopes have won WAC Player of the Week awards this season, including Leon Schmidt (three times), Bright Nutornutsi, Clayton Duarte and most recently Uriel Diaz Loza on Sept. 26.

GCU aims to get back in the win column after taking its first loss in nearly a month with a 3-0 defeat Sunday at California Baptist.
The Lopes had a five-match unbeaten streak before their game against the Lancers, with wins over UC Santa Barbara and then-No. 22 San Diego as well as a tie at No. 2 SMU.
The Lopes went 2-1-1 in conference home games last season. This season's four WAC home games start with Seattle U before hosting UT Rio Grande Valley, Utah Tech and UNLV.

Junior goalkeeper Leon Schmidt ranks among the best in national goalkeeper stats, ranking third in saves (53), seventh in saves per game (5.3) and 35th in save percentage (.791).
Schmidt's 53 saves rank fifth for a single season at GCU. He is eight away from tying Kendyl Day (2016) for fourth most in a season.
Schmidt has totaled 19 saves at home this season and has allowed one goal in GCU Stadium. He had three straight shutouts from Sept. 9 to Sept. 16 against Stetson, UC Santa Barbara, and San Diego.

GCU stays home and hosts UTRGV on Sunday at 7 p.m.
Including Seattle U, GCU plays four of its next five games at home. It hosts Utah Tech (Oct. 19) and UNLV (Oct. 22) for Senior Night.