Completed Event: Men's Soccer versus Cleveland State on August 25, 2025 , Win , 3, to, 1
M Soccer
vs Cleveland State
W 3-1
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Wednesday, September 20
Phoenix, Ariz.
7 p.m.
Grand Canyon
5-3-0, 0-0-0
3
vs
1
Houston Christian
2-3-2, 0-0-0
1
2
F
Houston Christian
0
1
1
Grand Canyon
2
1
3
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Nutornutsi-Lopez connection leads 4th straight win
9/20/2023 10:34:00 PM | Men's Soccer, Paul Coro
GCU defense takes shutout streak to 338 minutes in 3-1 home victory
It takes two to tango, and Grand Canyon has found the right partners on the pitch for it.
When sophomore forward Bright Nutornutsi and freshman midfielder Jorge Lopez improvise moments on the field together, the Lopes duo calls it a tango and the flair of their two give-and-goals Wednesday night had GCU dancing in celebration during a 3-1 victory against Houston Christian.
The Lopes (5-3) won their fourth consecutive game at GCU Stadium and extended their shutout streak to 338 minutes before the Huskies' late-game goal.
As stingy as the GCU defense has been lately, the Lopes used two Lopez goals off Nutornutsi assists and Nutornutsi's team-best sixth goal of the season to score more goals in one night than Houston Christian had allowed in its previous three matches combined.
Since returning from a 1-3, season-opening road trip, the youthful Lopes have outscored opponents 10-1 during a four-game winning streak that it takes into No. 6 SMU next Wednesday.
"Maturity doesn't happen overnight," GCU head coach Mike Kraus said. "It's a day to day, but we are maturing. Earlier in the season, this could've been a game where it starts to get away from us, and we don't know how to manage it. The guys are growing and learning. The leadership from (junior goalkeeper) Leon (Schmidt), (junior defender) Sam (Lossou) and other guys is able to get the group together and turn it."
Nutornutsi and Lopez each have scored four goals during the win streak, with Lopez getting his four in the past three matches.
Nutornutsi found the net first Wednesday night in the 22nd minute, when the Lopes capitalized on the second wave of a set piece. GCU junior defender Clayton Duarte sent a long cross to the doorstep of the right post, where Lopes sophomore Urial Diaz Loza used his left foot to tap the ball behind a defender and to the left for Nutornutsi to finish.
"I'm crashing everything in the box," said Nutornutsi, a Ghanaian who is following a one-goal freshman season with six goals in eight matches this season. "Anything I see, I put it back in the net. I'm a striker. It's my duty to score."
Nutornutsi was more impressive on his second and third assists of the season.
In the 40th minute, Nutornutsi shielded a defender on his back at the top of the penalty box to allow Lopez to pass to him from a higher area in the center. That was the start of their first tango, an offshoot of the coaches talking this week to Nutornutsi, Lopez and junior midfielder Innocent Jibril Rodet about building combination play more often.
While being taken down as he back-heeled the ball, Nutornutsi fed Lopez cutting by his right side to give the Bakersfield, California, native his third consecutive scoring game and to give GCU a 2-0 lead.
"He's got some grown-man strength," Kraus said of Nutornutsi. "He's agile and quick but also very sturdy and stable. He puts in a lot of work off the field, doing fitness, strength training, speed work and all that stuff. It pays off. Plays like that show it's not happening there. It's happening in training and the stuff he is doing on his own."
The match began to turn on GCU early in the second half, when the Huskies scored in the 54th minute.
With their lead tightened to 2-1, the Lopes only turned up their aggression and set up the tango two again.
In the 66th minute, Lopez kicked the ball ahead to Nutornutsi on the right end of the penalty box, where Nutornutsi back-heeled the ball again as Lopez cut behind freshman defender Diego Veliz's run-through. Lopez struck a liner into the net's left corner past a diving goalkeeper.
"You're seeing a different part of me," Lopez said after scoring his first four collegiate goals in three games. "I'm rolling on goals right now. I don't want to stop. My teammates told me that as soon as you start scoring, they just keep coming. It feels true.
"My motivation is that my coaches are pushing me every day, my teammates are going crazy for me at practices and at games, and I have the support from my family. I need all of it."
After a 4-0 homestand, the Lopes will not play at GCU Stadium again until Oct. 5 against Seattle U. They have a week to prepare for No. 6 SMU (6-1) before opening WAC play on Oct. 1 at California Baptist.
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When sophomore forward Bright Nutornutsi and freshman midfielder Jorge Lopez improvise moments on the field together, the Lopes duo calls it a tango and the flair of their two give-and-goals Wednesday night had GCU dancing in celebration during a 3-1 victory against Houston Christian.
The Lopes (5-3) won their fourth consecutive game at GCU Stadium and extended their shutout streak to 338 minutes before the Huskies' late-game goal.
As stingy as the GCU defense has been lately, the Lopes used two Lopez goals off Nutornutsi assists and Nutornutsi's team-best sixth goal of the season to score more goals in one night than Houston Christian had allowed in its previous three matches combined.
Since returning from a 1-3, season-opening road trip, the youthful Lopes have outscored opponents 10-1 during a four-game winning streak that it takes into No. 6 SMU next Wednesday.
"Maturity doesn't happen overnight," GCU head coach Mike Kraus said. "It's a day to day, but we are maturing. Earlier in the season, this could've been a game where it starts to get away from us, and we don't know how to manage it. The guys are growing and learning. The leadership from (junior goalkeeper) Leon (Schmidt), (junior defender) Sam (Lossou) and other guys is able to get the group together and turn it."
Nutornutsi and Lopez each have scored four goals during the win streak, with Lopez getting his four in the past three matches.
Nutornutsi found the net first Wednesday night in the 22nd minute, when the Lopes capitalized on the second wave of a set piece. GCU junior defender Clayton Duarte sent a long cross to the doorstep of the right post, where Lopes sophomore Urial Diaz Loza used his left foot to tap the ball behind a defender and to the left for Nutornutsi to finish."I'm crashing everything in the box," said Nutornutsi, a Ghanaian who is following a one-goal freshman season with six goals in eight matches this season. "Anything I see, I put it back in the net. I'm a striker. It's my duty to score."
Nutornutsi was more impressive on his second and third assists of the season.
In the 40th minute, Nutornutsi shielded a defender on his back at the top of the penalty box to allow Lopez to pass to him from a higher area in the center. That was the start of their first tango, an offshoot of the coaches talking this week to Nutornutsi, Lopez and junior midfielder Innocent Jibril Rodet about building combination play more often.
While being taken down as he back-heeled the ball, Nutornutsi fed Lopez cutting by his right side to give the Bakersfield, California, native his third consecutive scoring game and to give GCU a 2-0 lead.
"He's got some grown-man strength," Kraus said of Nutornutsi. "He's agile and quick but also very sturdy and stable. He puts in a lot of work off the field, doing fitness, strength training, speed work and all that stuff. It pays off. Plays like that show it's not happening there. It's happening in training and the stuff he is doing on his own."
The match began to turn on GCU early in the second half, when the Huskies scored in the 54th minute.
With their lead tightened to 2-1, the Lopes only turned up their aggression and set up the tango two again.In the 66th minute, Lopez kicked the ball ahead to Nutornutsi on the right end of the penalty box, where Nutornutsi back-heeled the ball again as Lopez cut behind freshman defender Diego Veliz's run-through. Lopez struck a liner into the net's left corner past a diving goalkeeper.
"You're seeing a different part of me," Lopez said after scoring his first four collegiate goals in three games. "I'm rolling on goals right now. I don't want to stop. My teammates told me that as soon as you start scoring, they just keep coming. It feels true.
"My motivation is that my coaches are pushing me every day, my teammates are going crazy for me at practices and at games, and I have the support from my family. I need all of it."
After a 4-0 homestand, the Lopes will not play at GCU Stadium again until Oct. 5 against Seattle U. They have a week to prepare for No. 6 SMU (6-1) before opening WAC play on Oct. 1 at California Baptist.
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Team Stats
HCU
GCU
Goals
1
3
Shots
7
18
Shots on Goal
4
5
Saves
2
3
Corners
2
3
Fouls
13
8
Scoring Plays
Bright Nutornutsi (6)
Assisted By: Clayton Duarte , Uriel Diaz Loza
GOAL by GCU Nutornutsi, Bright Assist by Duarte, Clayton and Diaz Loza, Uriel.
21:11
Jorge Lopez (4)
Assisted By: Bright Nutornutsi
GOAL by GCU Lopez, Jorge Assist by Nutornutsi, Bright.
39:19
Ricardo Garcia (1)
Assisted By: Bangelee Sesay
GOAL by HCU Garcia, Ricardo Assist by Sesay, Bangelee.
53:57
Jorge Lopez (4)
Assisted By: Bright Nutornutsi
GOAL by GCU Lopez, Jorge Assist by Nutornutsi, Bright.
65:23
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
4
SOG
3
Goals
2
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
2
Shots
3
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
0
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
D/M
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