Lopes face Redhawks in WAC final

Saturday, November 4

Riverside, Calif.

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Seattle U

Photo by: WAC

11/3/2023 4:12:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Lopes looking for 2nd WAC tournament title in 3 seasons

By: Jerob Moon

WAC Tournament championship | Saturday, Nov. 4 | 1 p.m. | Riverside, Calif. | CBU Soccer Stadium


(4) Grand Canyon Lopes (13-4-4, 5-1-3 WAC)	vs.	(3) Seattle U Redhawks (10-8-2, 6-2-1 WAC)
Match Notes	Live Video Live Stats

Fourth-seeded Grand Canyon will face off against third-seeded Seattle U in the WAC Tournament championship match on Saturday on the campus of California Baptist. A win for the Lopes and they would punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons.

The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.

3 THINGS TO KNOW

PROKOP THE HERO AGAIN: When the Lopes needed their biggest goal of the season senior forward Lindsey Prokop scored the game-winning goal against top-seeded Utah Valley in the 88th minute on Wednesday in the semifinals. On a counterattack Prokop received a through ball from fellow winger Bekah Valdez before shooting the ball past the keeper inside the 18-yard box. Prokop now has three-game winning goals in the WAC Tournament in her GCU career.
BACK FOR MORE: Both GCU and Seattle U are looking for another trip the national tournament. The Lopes are 1-0 in conference finals defeating Utah Valley in 2021 for their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. Meanwhile, Seattle U has been the model of consistency competing in their ninth WAC final in the last 11 seasons with four titles. The Redhawks are looking for their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2019.
NO. 3 vs. NO. 4: More history will be made when the Lopes and Redhawks face off on Saturday. It will be the first time since 2009 that the WAC Tournament final does not feature either a No. 1 or No. 2 seed. It's the first year with new schedule format for conference tournament that features two days in between each round instead of one day like in years past. The top two seeds still earned a first-round bye but were both knocked out of this year's tournament in the semifinals.

SCOUTING
A tough nonconference schedule coupled with untimely injuries saw Seattle U sit at 2-8-1 and 0-2 in WAC play on Sept. 24. Since that loss the Redhawks have right the ship finishing the regular season with a 6-0-1 record, allowing just one goal in that span, to capture the No. 3 seed in the WAC Tournament. The Redhawks defeated No. 6 Southern Utah in the quaterfinals before defeating No. 2 seed and host California Baptist 2-1 in the semifinals.

Sophomore midfielder Caroline Penner leads the way offensively with eight goals and 16 points. Defensively the Redhawks boast the WAC Freshman of the Year in goalkeeper Kassidy Kirgan and her 1.08 goals against average. Kirgan has allowed just three goals in the last nine matches.

WHAT'S NEXT?

A win and the Lopes will advance will advance to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons. GCU would await their opponent in the NCAA Selection Show on Monday at 2 p.m. (Phoenix time).

For more GCU women's soccer news, notes and numbers, click here to view the match notes.