Completed Event: Women's Soccer versus Air Force on September 28, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 2
W Soccer
vs Air Force
W 4-2
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Lopes sign 7 for 2024
11/17/2023 2:34:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Fresh off NCAA tournament appearance, Lopes retool with talented signing class
After its second WAC Tournament championship and NCAA tournament appearance in three seasons, the Grand Canyon women's soccer program signed seven players to join the roster in 2024.
"We are very blessed and fortunate to be welcoming these seven phenomenal soccer student-athletes, but more importantly tremendous overall people of great character and integrity into our GCU Soccer family," Lopes head coach Chris Cissell said. "We look forward to this class as they continue to help us build our great culture on and off the field."
The incoming class is spread throughout the United States and abroad with twins Abigale and Olivia Leonard joining GCU from Utah, Lauren Knox and Taylor Gardner from Missouri, Reese Clem from Colorado and Samantha Amato from California. Australian product Claire Scarpin will join the Lopes in January to the start the spring semester.
THE PLAYER: Amato joins the Lopes after starting for three seasons on the varsity team at San Marcos. During her sophomore year, she was part of the CIF open championship team. She will be a varsity captain in her senior season.
THE PERSON: Amato will be joining the WAC alongside her older sister, Ally, who plays softball at California Baptist. During her spare time, she enjoys going to the beach, hiking and spending time with her family. She chose GCU because of the competitive program and the family culture that Cissell and the rest of the coaching staff has created.
SCOUTING REPORT: "Sam is a tremendous athlete, and we are excited to have another left-footed player on the roster. She has played at a very high level and has shown the ability to play multiple positions on the back line while doing a great job of getting up involved in the offense with dynamic crosses and on set pieces." – Cissell
THE PLAYER: Clem brings an impressive prep resume to the Lopes. She is a four-year starter for her high school, Thunder Ridge. In May, she scored the game-winning goal in the 28th minute of the Class 5A state championship to capture the program's fourth title. The Grizzles finished the season as the 10th-ranked team in the country by United Soccer Coaches. Clem was named to the all-state first team in her junior year. On her club team, Clem captured the first-ever Girls Academy Champions League title.
THE PERSON: Clem enjoys the Colorado outdoors with snowboarding and paddle boarding. Off the field, she serves as a peer intern working with kids with disabilities. She chose GCU because of the weather, campus life, the coaching staff and her academic major.
SCOUTING REPORT: "Reese is another creative and dynamic winger that we are extremely excited about, and she has enjoyed tremendous success at both the club level and high school level. We are thrilled that she is joining our team, and she fits an extremely well in our attacking style of soccer." – Cissell
THE PLAYER: Garnder is the first of two St. Louis signees and the lone goalkeeper in the class of 2024. She has been part of back-to-back Elite Clubs National League national championships with St. Louis Scott Gallagher U17. With her high school squad at Whitfield, Gardner was named Class 2 All-State Goalkeeper of the Year and received all-region honors. In 2022, Gardner and Whitfield won the Class 1 state title. Gardner also has trained with the U.S. Youth National Team at various camps from 2019-21.
SCOUTING REPORT: "Taylor will add to our phenomenal depth at the goalkeeper position. She has enjoyed tremendous success in both of her club and high school seasons, where she has won a national championship and state championship, srespectively. We are excited that Taylor has decided to join our soccer family and I know she will be ready to compete from the get-go." – Cissell
THE PLAYER: Knox is the second Lope from the St. Louis area competing for Cor Jesu Academy and Lou Fusz Girls Academy. She was a two-sport athlete for the Chargers competing in soccer and basketball. She earned academic honors all four years of high school and was named to the National Honor Society three years in a row.
THE PERSON: Off the soccer field, Knox enjoys volunteering, reading, traveling and spending time with family. She has a younger brother, Sam, and older sister, Grace. She chose GCU because of the campus environment and the coaching staff.
SCOUTING REPORT: "Lauren is a true center forward, can play with her back to goal, and does well combining with others and has a special left foot. Lauren is very good in the air and does a great job of making good runs, and we look forward to working with her and helping her to become a big-time goal scorer for us in the future." – Cissell
THE PLAYER: Abigale joins GCU with her twin sister, Olivia, after a stellar career at Skyline in Murray, Utah. She led the Eagles to the state final in 2021 before capturing back-to-back championships in 2022 with an undefeated season and in 2023. Abigale has been a three-year varsity starter on the soccer team along with playing basketball.
THE PERSON: Abigale is a member of the National Honor Society while also earning a biliteracy seal for being fluent in American Sign Language. She chose GCU because of the team culture and the academic standards at GCU. She also enjoys the student life on campus.
SCOUTING REPORT: "Abigale is a fantastic person that we feel like will be a great fit in our soccer family. We are excited about her unique ability to defend so well with her size, and we feel like she will be an asset to us offensively on our set pieces." – Cissell
THE PLAYER: With her sister playing in the back line, Olivia comes to GCU as an offensive minded player. She captured a pair of state titles with Skyline and was named team captain her sophomore year and became a four-year varsity player.
THE PERSON: Olivia enjoys rock climbing, thrifting and skiing when she's off the soccer field. She chose GCU because of the coaching staff and the welcoming nature of the players. Her favorite teams to watch growing up were the U.S. Women's National Team, Utah Royals and Portland Thorns.
SCOUTING REPORT: "Olivia has tremendous character that will fit in well in our program. We are excited about her ability to connect passes and distribute extremely well in the midfield along with her twin, Abigale, joining the team." – Cissell
THE PERSON: Scarpin has Italian citizenship and met Cristiano Ronaldo when he was at Juventus. Off the soccer field, she enjoys going to the beach and hiking. Academically, she was awarded a Walford Blue, her high school's highest academic honor. She chose GCU because of the competitive soccer program and the family culture that the coaching staff has created.
SCOUTING REPORT: "Claire is an international student athlete from Australia and has great experience of competing at a very high level. We are excited that she will be joining our soccer family in the spring, and we look forward to getting acclimated to college soccer and our family culture. She is a tremendous goal scorer with a great work, great and good technical skills." – Cissell
"We are very blessed and fortunate to be welcoming these seven phenomenal soccer student-athletes, but more importantly tremendous overall people of great character and integrity into our GCU Soccer family," Lopes head coach Chris Cissell said. "We look forward to this class as they continue to help us build our great culture on and off the field."
The incoming class is spread throughout the United States and abroad with twins Abigale and Olivia Leonard joining GCU from Utah, Lauren Knox and Taylor Gardner from Missouri, Reese Clem from Colorado and Samantha Amato from California. Australian product Claire Scarpin will join the Lopes in January to the start the spring semester.
MEET THE CLASS |
players listed alphabetically
SAMANTHA AMATO
Defender- San Marcos, Calif. - San Marcos HS
Welcome to GCU Samantha! #LopesUp pic.twitter.com/h8bVaSRKw5
— GCU Women's Soccer (@GCU_WSoccer) November 9, 2023
THE PLAYER: Amato joins the Lopes after starting for three seasons on the varsity team at San Marcos. During her sophomore year, she was part of the CIF open championship team. She will be a varsity captain in her senior season.
THE PERSON: Amato will be joining the WAC alongside her older sister, Ally, who plays softball at California Baptist. During her spare time, she enjoys going to the beach, hiking and spending time with her family. She chose GCU because of the competitive program and the family culture that Cissell and the rest of the coaching staff has created.
SCOUTING REPORT: "Sam is a tremendous athlete, and we are excited to have another left-footed player on the roster. She has played at a very high level and has shown the ability to play multiple positions on the back line while doing a great job of getting up involved in the offense with dynamic crosses and on set pieces." – Cissell
REESE CLEM
Forward - Littleton, Colo. - Thunder Ridge HS
Welcome to the family Reese! #LopesUp pic.twitter.com/R4YFQcv11M
— GCU Women's Soccer (@GCU_WSoccer) November 8, 2023
THE PLAYER: Clem brings an impressive prep resume to the Lopes. She is a four-year starter for her high school, Thunder Ridge. In May, she scored the game-winning goal in the 28th minute of the Class 5A state championship to capture the program's fourth title. The Grizzles finished the season as the 10th-ranked team in the country by United Soccer Coaches. Clem was named to the all-state first team in her junior year. On her club team, Clem captured the first-ever Girls Academy Champions League title.
THE PERSON: Clem enjoys the Colorado outdoors with snowboarding and paddle boarding. Off the field, she serves as a peer intern working with kids with disabilities. She chose GCU because of the weather, campus life, the coaching staff and her academic major.
SCOUTING REPORT: "Reese is another creative and dynamic winger that we are extremely excited about, and she has enjoyed tremendous success at both the club level and high school level. We are thrilled that she is joining our team, and she fits an extremely well in our attacking style of soccer." – Cissell
TAYLOR GARDNER
Goalkeeper - St. Louis, Mo. - Whitfield HS
Officially official! Welcome to GCU @TaylorGK18! ✍️ #LopesUp pic.twitter.com/GWfAnobHaG
— GCU Women's Soccer (@GCU_WSoccer) November 9, 2023
THE PLAYER: Garnder is the first of two St. Louis signees and the lone goalkeeper in the class of 2024. She has been part of back-to-back Elite Clubs National League national championships with St. Louis Scott Gallagher U17. With her high school squad at Whitfield, Gardner was named Class 2 All-State Goalkeeper of the Year and received all-region honors. In 2022, Gardner and Whitfield won the Class 1 state title. Gardner also has trained with the U.S. Youth National Team at various camps from 2019-21.
SCOUTING REPORT: "Taylor will add to our phenomenal depth at the goalkeeper position. She has enjoyed tremendous success in both of her club and high school seasons, where she has won a national championship and state championship, srespectively. We are excited that Taylor has decided to join our soccer family and I know she will be ready to compete from the get-go." – Cissell
LAUREN KNOX
Forward - St. Louis, Mo. - Cor Jesu Academy
It's official, @LaurenKnox2005 is a Lope! ✍️ #LopesUp pic.twitter.com/Jt65v7Cy2v
— GCU Women's Soccer (@GCU_WSoccer) November 8, 2023
THE PLAYER: Knox is the second Lope from the St. Louis area competing for Cor Jesu Academy and Lou Fusz Girls Academy. She was a two-sport athlete for the Chargers competing in soccer and basketball. She earned academic honors all four years of high school and was named to the National Honor Society three years in a row.
THE PERSON: Off the soccer field, Knox enjoys volunteering, reading, traveling and spending time with family. She has a younger brother, Sam, and older sister, Grace. She chose GCU because of the campus environment and the coaching staff.
SCOUTING REPORT: "Lauren is a true center forward, can play with her back to goal, and does well combining with others and has a special left foot. Lauren is very good in the air and does a great job of making good runs, and we look forward to working with her and helping her to become a big-time goal scorer for us in the future." – Cissell
ABIGALE LEONARD
Defender - Murray, Utah - Skyline HS
Meet the newest Lope: @abigale_leonard! ✍️ #LopesUp pic.twitter.com/zDxNYRUC7f
— GCU Women's Soccer (@GCU_WSoccer) November 8, 2023
THE PLAYER: Abigale joins GCU with her twin sister, Olivia, after a stellar career at Skyline in Murray, Utah. She led the Eagles to the state final in 2021 before capturing back-to-back championships in 2022 with an undefeated season and in 2023. Abigale has been a three-year varsity starter on the soccer team along with playing basketball.
THE PERSON: Abigale is a member of the National Honor Society while also earning a biliteracy seal for being fluent in American Sign Language. She chose GCU because of the team culture and the academic standards at GCU. She also enjoys the student life on campus.
SCOUTING REPORT: "Abigale is a fantastic person that we feel like will be a great fit in our soccer family. We are excited about her unique ability to defend so well with her size, and we feel like she will be an asset to us offensively on our set pieces." – Cissell
OLIVIA LEONARD
Midfielder/Forward - Murray, Utah - Skyline HS
It's official! @_OliviaLeonard is a Lope! ✍️ #LopesUp pic.twitter.com/zab25TMMUp
— GCU Women's Soccer (@GCU_WSoccer) November 9, 2023
THE PLAYER: With her sister playing in the back line, Olivia comes to GCU as an offensive minded player. She captured a pair of state titles with Skyline and was named team captain her sophomore year and became a four-year varsity player.
THE PERSON: Olivia enjoys rock climbing, thrifting and skiing when she's off the soccer field. She chose GCU because of the coaching staff and the welcoming nature of the players. Her favorite teams to watch growing up were the U.S. Women's National Team, Utah Royals and Portland Thorns.
SCOUTING REPORT: "Olivia has tremendous character that will fit in well in our program. We are excited about her ability to connect passes and distribute extremely well in the midfield along with her twin, Abigale, joining the team." – Cissell
CLAIRE SCARPIN
Forward - Adelaide, South Australia - Walford Anglican School
THE PLAYER: Scarpin is the lone international signing and the first Australian player at GCU since defender Sandra Hill played from 2017-21. Scarpin was selected for the U17 Australian Junior Matildas in 2022 and competed in the Asean Football Federation U18 Women's Championship. She was also selected for South Australia State Team for National Challenge two years in a row.Say hello to the newest Lope: @ClaireScarpin #LopesUp pic.twitter.com/rrW84Q8R8d
— GCU Women's Soccer (@GCU_WSoccer) November 9, 2023
THE PERSON: Scarpin has Italian citizenship and met Cristiano Ronaldo when he was at Juventus. Off the soccer field, she enjoys going to the beach and hiking. Academically, she was awarded a Walford Blue, her high school's highest academic honor. She chose GCU because of the competitive soccer program and the family culture that the coaching staff has created.
SCOUTING REPORT: "Claire is an international student athlete from Australia and has great experience of competing at a very high level. We are excited that she will be joining our soccer family in the spring, and we look forward to getting acclimated to college soccer and our family culture. She is a tremendous goal scorer with a great work, great and good technical skills." – Cissell
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