Completed Event: Women's Soccer versus San Diego State on September 25, 2025 , Loss , 1, to, 2
W Soccer
vs San Diego State
L 1-2
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, November 10
Los Angeles, Calif.
3 p.m.
Grand Canyon
at
USC
Photo by: Nate Cochran
NCAA tourney sends GCU to USC for rematch
11/6/2023 4:44:00 PM | Women's Soccer, Paul Coro
Lopes revisit site of 2021 first-round loss with 4 starters returning
Four screens of eight-team NCAA tournament brackets came and went on the women's soccer selection show Monday with nothing more than alternating silence and groans from a room of Grand Canyon players wearing WAC champions shirts.
When GCU's name finally popped up on the screen, the room exploded in jubilation and then turned up more when USC was revealed as the Lopes' first-round opponent and host.
The Friday game at 3 p.m. (Phoenix time) is a rematch of the Lopes' first NCAA Division I tournament appearance in 2021, when GCU lost 6-0 in what would be a learning experience for four starters who remain on the team and two others who played heavy minutes.
"That's just super great to see our name on that board with a bunch of other great teams in the nation," Lopes  junior midfielder Ani Jensen said. "Seeing that we're playing the same team that we played two years ago is super fun. This is a great chance to go beat a great team and make history."
GCU will enter USC at a different level than 2021, when head coach Chris Cissell engineered one of the nation's greatest program turnarounds from a 2019 team that finished at No. 279 nationally before he took over.
Now, the Lopes have qualified for their second NCAA tournament in three seasons and have encouraging results against like opponent. GCU and USC each tied 1-1 at Arizona and each shut out Oregon at home (GCU 1-0, USC 3-0).
The Lopes knocked off conference regular-season champion Utah Valley 2-1 last week en route to the WAC Tournament championship on Saturday. Utah Valley won 3-2 at USC on Sept. 7 and also beat GCU earlier in the season, making the Wolverines the only non-NCAA tournament qualifier to beat the Trojans and the Lopes this season.
USC shut out nine opponents this season as the two-time national champions (2007, 2016) head to their 10th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.
"I loved our girls' response," Cissell said of the selection show roar. "We went there two years ago and obviously the game didn't go the way we wanted, but you see how hungry the girls are to make that right. We know USC is very, very good and has been nationally ranked all year. It's an awesome opportunity to go play against a great program that's won national championships."
The matchup showed respect for GCU (14-4-4), which is on a 10-match unbeaten streak. The Lopes were pitted against a No. 8 regional seed, making GCU the equivalent of a No. 9 seed in bracketing. The victor will play the winner between No. 1 regional seed BYU and Utah State.
"That is something we deserve as a team, and this is a great opportunity for us to show how great of a team we are against a top team in the country," Jensen said. "It's such a dream, and it's so cool to see all of our hard work pay off. To celebrate together and now get ready for a big game this weekend is super exciting."
The key returning starter from that 2021 NCAA tournament team is senior forward Gianna Gourley, who is third-leading goal scorer in the nation with 21 and is the active career goals leader among Division I players with 55. GCU sophomore midfielder also ranks fourth nationally for assists with 13.
Lopes junior defender Destinee Duran-Wise played half of the 2021 NCAA tournament loss at USC's McAlister Field and embraced the matchup as part of a season that she has called a revenge tour.
"I'm so ready for this game," Duran-Wise said. "Right now, I feel so confident in our team that we have now, especially with our culture. I feel like nothing can stop us. We've just got to keep going.
"We're right there, and we've grown a lot since that game. We just have to implement it further."
The Monday selection show viewing capped a wild 48-hour stretch that started with a WAC Tournament championship game in which GCU scored the first four goals. The Lopes' joy filled a five-hour bus ride to Phoenix with singing and dancing, which continued with "When the Lopes go marching in" before and after Monday's show. More celebrating is to come Monday night when they are introduced as WAC Tournament champions with the trophy in front of a sold-out men's basketball crowd.
The Lopes will return to preparation Tuesday morning with the confidence of a team that has scored the fourth-most goals in the nation (55). Of their four losses, three came to fellow NCAA tournament teams and the other was avenged against Utah Valley, which was ranked 27th by coaches before losing to GCU.
"That form that we're in right now is huge," Cissell said.
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When GCU's name finally popped up on the screen, the room exploded in jubilation and then turned up more when USC was revealed as the Lopes' first-round opponent and host.
The Friday game at 3 p.m. (Phoenix time) is a rematch of the Lopes' first NCAA Division I tournament appearance in 2021, when GCU lost 6-0 in what would be a learning experience for four starters who remain on the team and two others who played heavy minutes.
"That's just super great to see our name on that board with a bunch of other great teams in the nation," Lopes  junior midfielder Ani Jensen said. "Seeing that we're playing the same team that we played two years ago is super fun. This is a great chance to go beat a great team and make history."GCU will enter USC at a different level than 2021, when head coach Chris Cissell engineered one of the nation's greatest program turnarounds from a 2019 team that finished at No. 279 nationally before he took over.
Now, the Lopes have qualified for their second NCAA tournament in three seasons and have encouraging results against like opponent. GCU and USC each tied 1-1 at Arizona and each shut out Oregon at home (GCU 1-0, USC 3-0).
The Lopes knocked off conference regular-season champion Utah Valley 2-1 last week en route to the WAC Tournament championship on Saturday. Utah Valley won 3-2 at USC on Sept. 7 and also beat GCU earlier in the season, making the Wolverines the only non-NCAA tournament qualifier to beat the Trojans and the Lopes this season.
USC shut out nine opponents this season as the two-time national champions (2007, 2016) head to their 10th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.
"I loved our girls' response," Cissell said of the selection show roar. "We went there two years ago and obviously the game didn't go the way we wanted, but you see how hungry the girls are to make that right. We know USC is very, very good and has been nationally ranked all year. It's an awesome opportunity to go play against a great program that's won national championships."
The matchup showed respect for GCU (14-4-4), which is on a 10-match unbeaten streak. The Lopes were pitted against a No. 8 regional seed, making GCU the equivalent of a No. 9 seed in bracketing. The victor will play the winner between No. 1 regional seed BYU and Utah State.
"That is something we deserve as a team, and this is a great opportunity for us to show how great of a team we are against a top team in the country," Jensen said. "It's such a dream, and it's so cool to see all of our hard work pay off. To celebrate together and now get ready for a big game this weekend is super exciting."
The key returning starter from that 2021 NCAA tournament team is senior forward Gianna Gourley, who is third-leading goal scorer in the nation with 21 and is the active career goals leader among Division I players with 55. GCU sophomore midfielder also ranks fourth nationally for assists with 13.
Lopes junior defender Destinee Duran-Wise played half of the 2021 NCAA tournament loss at USC's McAlister Field and embraced the matchup as part of a season that she has called a revenge tour."I'm so ready for this game," Duran-Wise said. "Right now, I feel so confident in our team that we have now, especially with our culture. I feel like nothing can stop us. We've just got to keep going.
"We're right there, and we've grown a lot since that game. We just have to implement it further."
The Monday selection show viewing capped a wild 48-hour stretch that started with a WAC Tournament championship game in which GCU scored the first four goals. The Lopes' joy filled a five-hour bus ride to Phoenix with singing and dancing, which continued with "When the Lopes go marching in" before and after Monday's show. More celebrating is to come Monday night when they are introduced as WAC Tournament champions with the trophy in front of a sold-out men's basketball crowd.
The Lopes will return to preparation Tuesday morning with the confidence of a team that has scored the fourth-most goals in the nation (55). Of their four losses, three came to fellow NCAA tournament teams and the other was avenged against Utah Valley, which was ranked 27th by coaches before losing to GCU.
"That form that we're in right now is huge," Cissell said.
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Players Mentioned
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