Lopes suffer close opening loss to Bulldogs

Thursday, August 17

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

0-1-0, 0-0-0

Mississippi State

1-0-0, 0-0-0

Mississippi St.

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Sebastian Molinar

8/17/2023 9:59:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Missed scoring chances see GCU comeback fall just short

By: Jerob Moon

The Grand Canyon women's soccer team dropped a close 2-1 match to Mississippi State in the regular-season opener Thursday night at GCU Stadium.

With lightning strikes in the background for most of the match, the atmosphere was electric on the field as the Lopes clawed within a goal with under nine minutes to play. GCU went toe to toe with its SEC opponent, but great play by the Bulldogs goalkeeper and missed opportunities saw the Lopes come up just short.

"For the first game, we competed extremely hard," GCU head coach Chris Cissell said. "We played against a phenomenal team, a team that went to the second round of the national tournament last year. I felt like they had the first 30 minutes of the game, and we played better in the final 60. But that's soccer, we went down 2-0 against the run of play, but we fought back. Once we got it to 2-1, I thought we were going to tie it and it wasn't for a lack of chances. At the end of the day, soccer is all about finishing your opportunities."

The Lopes and transfer goalkeeper DeAira Jackson, a junior getting her first start in purple and white, had to weather a barrage of shots from the Bulldogs early. Mississippi State took eight shots in the first 18 minutes before finally capitalizing to take a 1-0 lead. However, the Lopes regrouped and controlled the pace the rest of the way, outshooting the Bulldogs 13-4 from there with an 11-3 match advantage in corner kicks.

Another advantage the Lopes flexed halfway through the first half was their depth, bringing in subs like sophomore forward Hannah Smith and senior midfielder Jaycee Iranshad to push the pace on offense while transfer defender Jayden Sanders shored up the back line. Only junior center backs Sidney Roberts and Aleisha Ganief played all 90 minutes while five GCU players off the bench logged 20 or more minutes.

Despite falling behind early, the Lopes had plenty of opportunities to tie or take the lead in the final 60 minutes. In a five-minute stretch midway through the second half, the Lopes had three shots go on goal, including a left-footed bender by junior midfielder Brenna Alderson, which nearly curled into the back left post if not for a diving save by Bulldogs goalkeeper Maddy Anderson, who finished with five saves. Roberts and junior Destinee Duran-Wise also put pressure on the corner kicks, combining for five shots, four of which just went wide of the mark.

One of the best GCU scoring chances came in the 70th minute by WAC Preseason Co-Offensive Player of the Year Gianna Gourley. While unmarked in the box, the senior forward volleyed a high-arching pass from senior winger Bekah Valdez, but the ball ended up directly in Anderson's chest.

Those chances all proceeded Duran-Wise's goal off the corner kick, which came off a low pass from Preseason All-WAC honoree Leah Pirro. Duran-Wise's perfectly placed redirect goal gives her two recent goals on short-side, corner-kick runs. She also made one in the Lopes' 1-0 exhibition win over UC San Diego on Aug. 9.

"She's really good at making that run and finding open space," Cissell said. "She's one of the targets on our set pieces because she has been putting everything on frame to start the season."

The Lopes will look to bounce back in their second match of the weekend against Wright State on Sunday at 7 p.m. in GCU Stadium.