Lopes host LMU, travel to Arkansas

Thursday, September 14

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Loyola Marymount

Tickets

Photo by: Jack Gilday

9/13/2023 2:19:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Nonconference play wraps up with home, road matches

By: Jerob Moon


Grand Canyon Lopes (5-2-1)	vs.	Loyola Marymount Lions (5-3)	No. 11 Arkansas Razorbacks (3-2-1)
		Thursday, Sept. 14 7 p.m.	Sunday, Sept. 17 11 a.m.
Match Notes		Live Video Live Stats	Live Video Live Stats

The Grand Canyon women's soccer team will wrap up nonconference play with a home match against Loyola Marymount on Thursday before a match at No. 11 Arkansas on Sunday.

Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+.

3 THINGS TO KNOW

GANIEF EARNS WEEKLY HONORS: After another strong road trip by the GCU defense, junior center back Aleisha Ganief was named WAC Defensive Player of the Week. Ganief logged all 180 minutes against South Dakota State and North Dakota as the Lopes did not allow a shot on goal against the Fighting Hawks.
DEFENSE RECORDS ANOTHER SHUTOUT: The 2-0 win against North Dakota on Sept. 10 was the fifth shutout for the Lopes through the first eight games of the season. Junior goalkeeper DeAira Jackson now ranks third in the nation in shutouts while the GCU defense did not allow a shot on goal for just the third time in the Chris Cissell era.
WAC PLAY BEGINS: Conference play is on the horizon beginning next week. GCU will host Seattle U and Utah Valley at GCU Stadium on Sept. 21 and 24, respectively. Utah Valley is the reigning WAC regular-season champions, and Seattle U was host to the WAC Tournament last season.

SCOUTING

Loyola Marymount enters this week riding a four-match winning streak, its longest since 2015 when it won 16 games. LMU has defeated CSU Bakersfield, UC Davis, Nevada and UC San Diego with three of the four wins being shutouts. The defense has supported the offense who has scored just nine goals in eight games. Graduate Jai Smith is the team's points leader with five while freshman goalkeeper J.J. Hoover has impressed with a 0.71 goals against average in her first seven matches.

Arkansas is back in action after two straight losses at No. 4 North Carolina and at No. 9 Clemson on the road on Sept. 3 and 7, respectively. The 11th-ranked Razorbacks are 3-0 at home and they will return to Razorback Field on Sunday to take on GCU after facing Tennessee in their first SEC match on Thursday. Arkansas is led by graduate forward Anna Podojil, who is the active Division I leader with 122 career points. In Phoenix last season, Podojil scored two goals in a 3-0 win over the Lopes.