Season opens with culture shift, restored optimism

Thursday, August 22

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Western Illinois

Buy Tickets

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

8/21/2024 11:24:00 AM | Men's Soccer, Paul Coro

Lopes open Kiefer's 1st season Thursday night at GCU Stadium with 18 newcomers

By: Paul Coro

For things to be different with Grand Canyon men's soccer, change could not wait until official practice began two weeks ago.

Georgie Kiefer

The new GCU staff, led by George Kiefer after 22 successful seasons coaching South Florida and North Carolina State, called a team meeting in January and told Lopes players, "We'll see you at 5," the next day.

"I thought he meant 5 p.m.," said sophomore midfielder Jorge Lopez, GCU's second-leading returning scorer.

It was not just the actual 5 a.m. start time on a frozen field that began to change the culture in a Lopes program that opens its season Thursday night against Western Illinois at GCU Stadium.

The Lopes had gone from three NCAA tournament trips in four years and national top-25 rankings to a seventh-place WAC finish last season. Kiefer, his experienced staff and a seven-player leadership group began with Navy SEALs-style workouts, worked in 18 newcomers and has the team reading "Legacy," which details the culture mantras of All Blacks, New Zealand's dominant rugby club.

Jony Munoz

"It's a massive thing," GCU graduate transfer Jony Muñoz said. "You see a place that has built a name for itself. I understand that it takes a lot for the guys to build that stuff. To see it crumble a bit, I'm fighting not only for the boys by my side but the boys who had built it up to what it was. We're excited to get back to where it was and probably even better."

The immediate product will be a high-pressing team that Kiefer believes is one of the fastest in the nation.

GCU will open the season in a 4-3-3 system and a larger standard of blue-collar grit and daily values. The grit was formed in those winter workouts, when players were carrying each other and diving to the finish.

"If you're still here, you've endured a lot," said Kiefer, who did not have a player leave the program. "These are guys who will do anything you ask.

"They were starving for good discipline. I have a lot of respect for the returning guys. The key guys are the returning guys who have experiences."

Junior forward Bright Nutornutsi, last season's leading scorer, was the only GCU player to receive Preseason All-WAC Team honors. That came in concert with a coaches' poll that tabbed the Lopes to finish sixth.

No. 9 will remain at No. 9 as a forward, where Kiefer believes he is one of the best in the nation.

That front line teams Nutornutsi, who scored nine goals last season, with more high-end speed in the return of sophomore forward Solo Bidanessy, transfers Ben Assane (Long Island) and Nelson Gomez Rodriguez (Glendale Community College) and French freshman Alan Hermitte.

"Either wing, you don't want to be numbers down against them or even because they're going to run right by you," Kiefer said. "I don't care who we're playing."

Chula Vista, CA Aug. 11, 2024 :: GCU men's soccer takes a 0-1 loss against the UC Irvine during their exhibition match at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center in Chula Vista, Ca. David Kadlubowski/GCU

Chula Vista, CA Aug. 11, 2024 :: GCU men's soccer takes a 0-1 loss against the UC Irvine during their exhibition match at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center in Chula Vista, Ca. David Kadlubowski/GCU

In addition to Lopez remaining in the middle, transfers Lalo Serrano (Cornell), Lorenzo Mendoza (Cal Poly) and Iann Topete (Chicago State) return to Arizona with freshman Xande Santos of Massachusetts also making a play to be in the rotation.

"The system is phenomenal with the new coaches," Lopez said of Kiefer and assistant coaches Leo Chappel and AJ Madero.

"I'm a box-to-box player here. I've been playing that for a quite a while. Having Jony here by my side a big improvement, and I know we'll do great things."

Kiefer kept an elite goalkeeper in German senior Leon Schmidt, who allowed one goal or none in each of his last six appearances of 2023. Kiefer believes team success will enhance the pro future he believes Schmidt should have.

"I don't even know if the GCU campus knows how good Leon can be," Kiefer said.

To fortify the defense, Kiefer said the back line was the main area his staff wanted to address in recruiting. They sought more size, athleticism and toughness, and freshman defender Liam Harrington showed them that when he received 11 stitches to his face during an exhibition match and returned to action.

Harrington and freshman Serigne Babacar Diallo, currently out with a foot injury, could be in the center of the defense with Swedish freshman Viggo Gustavsson. Another freshman, Damon Rouse of Albany, New York, will start at left back with returning sophomore Diego Veliz and Brazilian sophomore Henrique Lobato, a Monroe transfer, battling for the right back spot.

"No matter what we did in training, Diego was the rabbit we were all chasing," Kiefer said of Veliz's energy.

Chula Vista, CA Aug. 11, 2024 :: GCU men's soccer takes a 0-1 loss against the UC Irvine during their exhibition match at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center in Chula Vista, Ca. David Kadlubowski/GCU

The optimism and potential plays over the remainder of the month with the 7 p.m. home opener Thursday against Western Illinois and an Aug. 30 match at No. 20 Duke. The fragility of speed not leading to mistakes and the danger of a misstep disrupting months of culture building could show when adversity comes.

"If we can just stay on track to improving every day – because it's still out of sync with young guys figuring it out and guys getting it wrong," Kiefer said. "It's still a bit sloppy, a bit careless, but if we can keep making strides to get better, this team could be really, really tough to beat in another two to three weeks. It'll be a fun team to coach."

Kiefer has guided programs to the standard GCU formerly had. At South Florida, he had a stretch in which his teams reached the NCAA tournament in 12 of 13 seasons. He looks now to add to a 211-138-74 career record at South Florida and North Carolina State with his first Western stint.

GCU is a season removed from missing the WAC Tournament, but also not far from a program that made the 2018, 2020 and 2021 NCAA tournaments and hosted one of those matches in 2021. This season's WAC Tournament will be held at GCU Stadium in November, as well as marquee matchups next month with Creighton (Sept. 9) and No. 11 LMU (Sept. 23).

"There's a lot of history here and a lot of history to be made," Muñoz said. "It's exciting to be part of that. It's exciting to be at a place that wants to turn things around and set a standard, not only for the soccer program but for the school and what it represents. It's near and dear to me as a Christ follower."