Defense, Schwarz goal lead 1-0 victory 24 hours after GCU coach loses mom
By: Paul Coro
The Grand Canyon women's soccer players all smiled Sunday morning because they knew they had done the right thing by making pink ribbons for the team when head coach Chris Cissell walked into the pregame meal room wearing pink socks.
Cissell's mother, Sherry, passed away from complications with breast cancer Saturday in Missouri to make Sunday's game emotionally overwrought with the GCU people he always calls his soccer family.
The Lopes did all they could for their leader, from the pink ribbons in their hair and attached on Cissell's hat to the 1-0 GCU victory against Oregon that the players dedicated to him and his mother.
With a 24-7 shot advantage, the Lopes (4-1-1) dominated the Ducks by more than the final score of the fourth consecutive GCU Stadium shutout. They have not allowed a goal in the last 353 minutes of play, but they needed senior forward Bekah Valdez's goal-line header to clear a potential tying goal with 25 seconds remaining and finish the win that came 24 hours after Cissell received the tragic news Saturday.
"It's been a real struggle," Cissell said. "I feel like I'm still in shock, like it's not real. I want to call my mom right now and talk about the game. While they were alive, my mom and dad watched every single game I coached since I started my college career in 1999. My mom and I would talk about the matches, usually on my way home. The drive home's going to be rough to not call Mom."
Four years after losing his father on Sept. 5, the Sept. 2 passing of his mother at age 74 came amid waves of support.
"GCU is an awesome place to be when you're going through things like this because we are family first, and our soccer family is family first," said Cissell, whose four adult children gathered in Missouri to watch the game together. "The girls wanted to win so bad to honor my mom, so it felt like we were playing pressed."
That 1-0 differential did not come until the 36th minute because the Ducks defense was staving off a deluge of shots with defenders' blocks and goalkeeper saves.
GCU senior forward Gianna Gourley, one of the nation's leading scorers with seven goals this season, followed two previously blocked shots with an even better attempt in the 26th minute. Junior midfielder Ani Jensen made a brilliant pass to set up Gourley, who dribbled away from the goalkeeper but had her shot blocked by a goal-line defender.
After continued pressure with shots over the crossbar, the Lopes broke through when senior forward Lindsey Prokop beat a defender on the right side, pulled away from her and sent a cross past the goalkeeper. Senior midfielder Magdalena Schwarz controlled the ball with her right leg and head before booting it to the net for a 1-0 lead.
"I saw Prokop on the outside and I knew she was going to go forward," said Schwarz, the German with 14 career goals. "She took a touch and beat her player. I just knew I had to get to the back post and she hit an amazing ball."
GCU outshot Oregon 15-3 in the first half, and junior defender Destinee Durant-Wise created more scoring threats early in the second half.
But after a shot in the 59th minute by Gourley, neither team took a shot for 17 minutes.
That made GCU's defensive work stand out more with junior defender Sidney Roberts making important clears and junior goalkeeper DeAira Jackson playing authoritatively in her fourth shutout (third consecutive) in six matches this season.
Jackson charged a ball in the box to make a sliding kick on a ball that was in scoring position and charged another breakaway ball in the 77th minute before getting a big 86th-minute punchout off a corner kick.
The Lopes nearly picked up an insurance goal in the 88th minute on a Gourley 15-foot shot that was knocked down, setting up a rebound opportunity from Valdez to sophomore midfielder Leah Pirro that went wide of goal.
In the final 30 seconds, the Ducks pushed their entire team into the box for a corner kick. After Valdez dropped toward the goal line to head a potential goal away, another front-line GCU player cleared the final chance when Prokop headed the ball away.
"Cissell comes up and says, 'Captain of the No-Goal Patrol, we don't want anything back there,' " Roberts said. "We make our home field a sanctuary. Nobody comes in and scores on us. We work hard for each other, and it's turned out really well.
"We love Coach Cissell. We can't believe he stayed for this game for us. It says a lot about our family culture. That means so much to us, so we want to dedicate this game to his mom. She was so special to him, and he's really special to us."
The Lopes have one loss in the first six games for the third consecutive season. Next, they will play at South Dakota State (5-1) on Thursday and at North Dakota (3-2-1) on Saturday.
"This was great to have the game," Cissell said. "There is never a good time, but the last 24 hours I was able to concentrate on beating Oregon. Now, I can already tell it's going to be a tough drive home. Mom would've been over the moon about us beating Oregon and starting 4-1-1. She'd be talking about how proud she is of all the girls. When she watches them and hears me talk about them so much, she feels like she knows them all."
GCU head coach Chris Cissell and his mother, Sherry.
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"It's been a real struggle," Cissell said. "I feel like I'm still in shock, like it's not real. I want to call my mom right now and talk about the game. While they were alive, my mom and dad watched every single game I coached since I started my college career in 1999. My mom and I would talk about the matches, usually on my way home. The drive home's going to be rough to not call Mom."
GCU senior forward Gianna Gourley, one of the nation's leading scorers with seven goals this season, followed two previously blocked shots with an even better attempt in the 26th minute. Junior midfielder Ani Jensen made a brilliant pass to set up Gourley, who dribbled away from the goalkeeper but had her shot blocked by a goal-line defender.
That made GCU's defensive work stand out more with junior defender Sidney Roberts making important clears and junior goalkeeper DeAira Jackson playing authoritatively in her fourth shutout (third consecutive) in six matches this season.
"Cissell comes up and says, 'Captain of the No-Goal Patrol, we don't want anything back there,' " Roberts said. "We make our home field a sanctuary. Nobody comes in and scores on us. We work hard for each other, and it's turned out really well.
