Completed Event: Women's Soccer versus Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) on February 14, 2026 ,
W Soccer
vs Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Thursday, August 15
Phoenix, Ariz.
7 p.m.
Grand Canyon
vs
Arizona
Photo by: Jack Gilday
Carryover of defense, culture keys high hopes
8/14/2024 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer, Paul Coro
GCU opens Thursday vs. Arizona with stingy back line, committee scoring
With the way that the Grand Canyon women's soccer program has flipped since 2020, there is good reason to believe in a flip side to everything with the Lopes.
GCU enters a 7 p.m. Thursday season opener against Arizona facing the question of how it will get goals with 75% of last season's scoring gone.
But the Lopes have the reassurance of how difficult it will be to get goals on them. Their defense returns its back line and goalkeeper from a NCAA tournament team that shut out nine of last season's 23 opponents.
The rear-view mirror sees GCU losing a talented duo, Gianna Gourley and Bekah Valdez, to professional soccer.
But right in front of them is a seasoned team that returns the four players who logged the most minutes last season.
The Lopes doubled their win total in each of fifth-year head coach Chris Cissell's first two seasons at the helm, made an NCAA tournament debut in 2021 and now aims for back-to-back NCAA tourney trips after stinging since a November first-round exit to No. 22 USC came on a penalty kick.
"Our culture is really strong," said Cissell, whose team tied and defeated its season-opening opponent, Arizona, in the past two years' meetings. "The team unity and sense of soccer family is strong within this team. We have a lot of seniors who are really focused, motivated and determined to finalize their career with another championship.
"They really want to win a game at the national tournament. They don't just want to get there. They want to get there and compete to win."
The Lopes will be pressed to match last season's scoring attack that ranked 15th nationally. Senior defender Aleisha Ganief is the only returnee who scored more than two goals last season, when she had a two-game surge for her first four career goals.
But it is a defense, which Cissell coined "No-Goal Patrol," that often got overshadowed last season when it was only allowing 0.91 goals per game.
"It was always like 'offense, offense, offense,' and 'scoring, scoring, scoring,' " said GCU senior DeAira Jackson, the Preseason WAC Goalkeeper of the Year. "We did get a new shutout record last year. It's good that we're being acknowledged for our hard work of what we do on the field.
"We're so glass full, a lot more optimistic and positive. We're very bought in to what we're doing. We're confident, and we have that real-sister family vibe."
Ganief, Jackson, graduate captain Sidney Roberts and senior Destinee Duran-Wise headline a defense that also features junior Jayden Sanders and midfield impact from junior AJ Loera, who joined Ganief and Jackson on Preseason All-WAC. The group will get an instant impact from freshman Samantha Amato of San Marcos, California.
"I do feel like we could be one of the stronger defensive teams in the country this year," Cissell said. "We're going to be really tough to score on."
Beyond the established experience, Cissell's confidence in that group grows with the emergence of Sanders. After transferring from Oregon State, Sanders averaged 19 minutes per match last season but has expanded her game to be considered the program's most improved player over the spring and summer.
"She's just a lockdown defender," Cissell said. "She's probably one of our best, if not our best all-around, one-on-one defender. Everything we've asked her to work on and improved on from last fall through last spring and the summer, she's been phenomenal. People who really followed the team in the past are going to be surprised at what an impact she's going to make this year."
Roberts captains GCU for the third consecutive season but relishes this team for how connected it feels. Part of that stems from last season's institution of a leadership council, which is included in program decision-making. Duran-Wise, Ganief, Jackson, Loera and Roberts are joined on it by seniors Brenna Alderson and Ani Jensen and sophomore Madison Hamm.
Alderson and Duran-Wise played on both of GCU's NCAA tournament qualifiers (2021 and 2023).
"This team has so much going for it," Roberts said. "We have been working so hard. What is different with this team is that drive and motivation going into the season. We want to run it back. We want another championship. We fight for one another. There's so much respect on this team, and we work really hard."
With the NCAA setting the practice start date for July 31, the Lopes needed to make quick work of deciphering their revamped attack for an opener 15 days later.
Alderson will be vital to the front-line threat with junior returnees Maddie Brady and Hannah Smith and three newcomers, Pepperdine graduate transfer Alex Sampson, Southern Utah trasnfer Mayu Yamamoto and freshman Reese Clem of Littleton, Colorado.
Sampson, a Phoenix Desert Vista High School graduate, arguably delivered the best training camp on the team.
"I do believe that with our system, our tactics, our culture, the way that we play and the way we train, the goals will come," Cissell said. "We're just waiting for new girls to emerge.
"I think we're going to be one of those teams with five, six, seven girls that have five to 10 goals. It's going to be more scoring by committee than having a superstar forward. We'll learn how to play that way. We'll be able to play by whoever's hot, whoever's in form or whoever's playing well at the time."
GCU is challenging itself early in the season to find its fit with tactics and personnel. Including a Saturday scrimmage against Arizona State (a 1-1 tie), the Lopes will play three Big 12 opponents over a four-match stretch. The season-opening homestand continues Sunday against Charleston Southern before the Lopes play at Utah on Aug. 22.
"We can do hard things," Jackson said.
"Last year was kind of the appetizer for me. This was new to me. Now this year, it's like, 'OK, let's do this again.' I'm excited for the winning attitude we have. Our teamwork, camaraderie and the way we connect and bond is really good. That's why the confidence is there."
The program has walked the balance of deepening its roster to create role competition that raises the level of play and maintaining a family culture that Cissell credits for the program's turnaround in the 2020s.
"This team, out of the five years I've been here now, has the most depth of any team that we've ever had," Cissell said. "We have a lot of good players to be difference-makers off the bench.
"These girls really do buy into the team-first mentality and the soccer family atmosphere that we try to create. Each year, each team tries to make it better and better and stronger and stronger. I feel good about where we're headed."
The annual victory totals tell the tale of improvement, but two NCAA tournament results say even more about the recent uptick. In 2021, host USC dominated GCU 6-0. Last year, the NCAA tournament rematch at USC ended in a 1-0 loss with the lone score coming on a debated penalty kick in the second half.
"The coaches have set a great tone going into this season," Roberts said. "It's a top-down program. They set the standard for winning and for respecting one another. It flows throughout the whole team. It's at such a high standard this year. We have a lot going for us."
For tickets to the season opener, click here.
GCU enters a 7 p.m. Thursday season opener against Arizona facing the question of how it will get goals with 75% of last season's scoring gone.
But the Lopes have the reassurance of how difficult it will be to get goals on them. Their defense returns its back line and goalkeeper from a NCAA tournament team that shut out nine of last season's 23 opponents.
The rear-view mirror sees GCU losing a talented duo, Gianna Gourley and Bekah Valdez, to professional soccer.
But right in front of them is a seasoned team that returns the four players who logged the most minutes last season.
The Lopes doubled their win total in each of fifth-year head coach Chris Cissell's first two seasons at the helm, made an NCAA tournament debut in 2021 and now aims for back-to-back NCAA tourney trips after stinging since a November first-round exit to No. 22 USC came on a penalty kick."Our culture is really strong," said Cissell, whose team tied and defeated its season-opening opponent, Arizona, in the past two years' meetings. "The team unity and sense of soccer family is strong within this team. We have a lot of seniors who are really focused, motivated and determined to finalize their career with another championship.
"They really want to win a game at the national tournament. They don't just want to get there. They want to get there and compete to win."
The Lopes will be pressed to match last season's scoring attack that ranked 15th nationally. Senior defender Aleisha Ganief is the only returnee who scored more than two goals last season, when she had a two-game surge for her first four career goals.
But it is a defense, which Cissell coined "No-Goal Patrol," that often got overshadowed last season when it was only allowing 0.91 goals per game.
"It was always like 'offense, offense, offense,' and 'scoring, scoring, scoring,' " said GCU senior DeAira Jackson, the Preseason WAC Goalkeeper of the Year. "We did get a new shutout record last year. It's good that we're being acknowledged for our hard work of what we do on the field."We're so glass full, a lot more optimistic and positive. We're very bought in to what we're doing. We're confident, and we have that real-sister family vibe."
Ganief, Jackson, graduate captain Sidney Roberts and senior Destinee Duran-Wise headline a defense that also features junior Jayden Sanders and midfield impact from junior AJ Loera, who joined Ganief and Jackson on Preseason All-WAC. The group will get an instant impact from freshman Samantha Amato of San Marcos, California.
"I do feel like we could be one of the stronger defensive teams in the country this year," Cissell said. "We're going to be really tough to score on."
Beyond the established experience, Cissell's confidence in that group grows with the emergence of Sanders. After transferring from Oregon State, Sanders averaged 19 minutes per match last season but has expanded her game to be considered the program's most improved player over the spring and summer."She's just a lockdown defender," Cissell said. "She's probably one of our best, if not our best all-around, one-on-one defender. Everything we've asked her to work on and improved on from last fall through last spring and the summer, she's been phenomenal. People who really followed the team in the past are going to be surprised at what an impact she's going to make this year."
Roberts captains GCU for the third consecutive season but relishes this team for how connected it feels. Part of that stems from last season's institution of a leadership council, which is included in program decision-making. Duran-Wise, Ganief, Jackson, Loera and Roberts are joined on it by seniors Brenna Alderson and Ani Jensen and sophomore Madison Hamm.
Alderson and Duran-Wise played on both of GCU's NCAA tournament qualifiers (2021 and 2023).
"This team has so much going for it," Roberts said. "We have been working so hard. What is different with this team is that drive and motivation going into the season. We want to run it back. We want another championship. We fight for one another. There's so much respect on this team, and we work really hard."With the NCAA setting the practice start date for July 31, the Lopes needed to make quick work of deciphering their revamped attack for an opener 15 days later.
Alderson will be vital to the front-line threat with junior returnees Maddie Brady and Hannah Smith and three newcomers, Pepperdine graduate transfer Alex Sampson, Southern Utah trasnfer Mayu Yamamoto and freshman Reese Clem of Littleton, Colorado.
Sampson, a Phoenix Desert Vista High School graduate, arguably delivered the best training camp on the team.
"I do believe that with our system, our tactics, our culture, the way that we play and the way we train, the goals will come," Cissell said. "We're just waiting for new girls to emerge.
"I think we're going to be one of those teams with five, six, seven girls that have five to 10 goals. It's going to be more scoring by committee than having a superstar forward. We'll learn how to play that way. We'll be able to play by whoever's hot, whoever's in form or whoever's playing well at the time."
GCU is challenging itself early in the season to find its fit with tactics and personnel. Including a Saturday scrimmage against Arizona State (a 1-1 tie), the Lopes will play three Big 12 opponents over a four-match stretch. The season-opening homestand continues Sunday against Charleston Southern before the Lopes play at Utah on Aug. 22.
"We can do hard things," Jackson said."Last year was kind of the appetizer for me. This was new to me. Now this year, it's like, 'OK, let's do this again.' I'm excited for the winning attitude we have. Our teamwork, camaraderie and the way we connect and bond is really good. That's why the confidence is there."
The program has walked the balance of deepening its roster to create role competition that raises the level of play and maintaining a family culture that Cissell credits for the program's turnaround in the 2020s.
"This team, out of the five years I've been here now, has the most depth of any team that we've ever had," Cissell said. "We have a lot of good players to be difference-makers off the bench.
"These girls really do buy into the team-first mentality and the soccer family atmosphere that we try to create. Each year, each team tries to make it better and better and stronger and stronger. I feel good about where we're headed."
The annual victory totals tell the tale of improvement, but two NCAA tournament results say even more about the recent uptick. In 2021, host USC dominated GCU 6-0. Last year, the NCAA tournament rematch at USC ended in a 1-0 loss with the lone score coming on a debated penalty kick in the second half.
"The coaches have set a great tone going into this season," Roberts said. "It's a top-down program. They set the standard for winning and for respecting one another. It flows throughout the whole team. It's at such a high standard this year. We have a lot going for us."
For tickets to the season opener, click here.
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