Lopes fall 2-1 to Air Force

Thursday, October 10

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

4-5-2, 1-1-0

Air Force

1-9-1, 1-2-0

Air Force

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Rachel Sollazzo

10/10/2024 10:49:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

Nutornutsi scores 7th goal of season; GCU moves to 1-1 in WAC

By: Nick Macdonald

The Grand Canyon men's soccer team fell 2-1 Thursday night versus Air Force in the Lopes' conference home opener at GCU Stadium.

Notes

GCU junior forward Bright Nutornutsi scored his seventh goal of the season. He scored for the second straight game and is second in the WAC in goals this season.
Lopes senior Leon Schmidt tallied six saves in net, moving him four saves away from tying the Division I-era program record for saves in a career. He enters Sunday's matchup against Utah Valley with 168 career saves at GCU.

The Lopes (4-5-2, 1-1 WAC), who entered Thursday outscoring their opposition 10-4 in the first half, struck first with a 16th-minute goal off the foot of Nutornutsi. Senior forward Ben Assane fought off a defender and flicked the ball to graduate midfielder Jony Muñoz, who took it in stride and gave a through ball to Nutornutsi. Nutornutsi made a fake movement on the ball and let it sweep through the back line and finished from inside the box for the score.

Both teams tallied five shots in the first half, with Schmidt making three saves to put GCU in front 1-0 at the halftime horn.

Air Force knotted the match at 1-1 in the 49th minute, intercepting a backfield pass and connecting from 15 yards out for the goal. Ten minutes later, the Falcons registered their second goal via Sean Flynn and led 2-1 with 30 minutes to play.

The Lopes outshot Air Force 9-5 in the second half, with chances coming inches away when two balls hit off the frame of the goal. Junior forward Nelson Gomez Rodriguez hit a hard, line-drive shot toward goal in the 75th minute, hitting the top right portion of the crossbar to send the ball high and away from the offense. Freshman defender Liam Harrington fielded a cross three minutes later from 6 yards out, only for his shot to be stopped by a diving goalkeeper.

GCU pushed aggressively over the final 10 minutes, seeing yet another attempt hit the post as sophomore midfielder Jorge Lopez's shot flew by multiple defenders, bouncing hard off the iron and into the defense's feet and out of play for a throw-in.

"I thought we lost our way a little in the second half, but felt we were very unlucky not to bring the game even," Lopes head coach George Kiefer said. "Hitting the inside of the post and underneath the crossbar, we were centimeters away and the game can be unforgiving at times, but the work rate and desire from the guys were exceptional."

GCU totaled a season-high 14 shots while adding five corner kicks.

The Lopes stay in Phoenix and host Utah Valley on Sunday at GCU Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.