Road play begins against Duke in Cary

Friday, August 30

Cary, N.C. | WakeMed Soccer Park

4 p.m. (Phoenix time)

Grand Canyon

Duke

Phoenix, AZ - August 22, 2024, GCU Men’s Soccer defeats Western Illinois for their first win of the season, and Coach George Kiefer’s first win ever. (Photo by: Jack Gilday/GCU).

Photo by: Jack Gilday

8/29/2024 10:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Live Stats

Teams meet for 1st time after Blue Devils made 2023 NCAA tournament

By: Nick Macdonald

Friday, August 30 \| 4 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| WakeMed Soccer Park \| Cary, N.C.

	(RV) DUKE BLUE DEVILS (1-0-1)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (1-0)

WATCH: No stream \| STATS: Link

AT A GLANCE

GCU heads on the road for the first time this season and faces nationally ranked Duke in Cary, N.C., at WakeMed Soccer Park.
George Kiefer earned his first victory as head coach of the Lopes on Aug. 22 with a 3-0 home shutout of Western Illinois. Kiefer previously coached an ACC program, North Carolina State, from 2017-2023 and was 1-2-2 against Duke during his tenure.
Junior forward Bright Nutornutsi jump-started the offense with two goals within 45 seconds of each other, recording a brace in the first half vs. Western Illinois. The goals moved him to fourth all-time in the program's Division I era (2013-present).
Senior goalkeeper Leon Schmidt recorded his seventh save as a Lope, moving him into second place all-time in the D-I era. Schmidt has nine solo shutouts for his career and improved his career save count to 125 following Western Illinois.
Graduate midfielder Jony Muñoz created a highlight reel goal in his first game as a Lope with a bicycle kick goal from just inside the 18. The goal was his first at the NCAA D-I level since Oct. 23, 2021, with Kansas City. He spent the past two seasons playing for MidAmerica Nazarene, helping it win an NAIA national championship last year.
Of GCU's new players, seven were named high school or college All-Americans at previous institutions. Two earned one of high school soccer's most prestigious honors in Gatorade Player of the Year, as graduate Jony Muñoz received the award for the state of Kansas and freshman Maruc Von was honored in his home state of Colorado.
On the 30-man roster, 10 countries are represented, including the United States, Sweden, Senegal, Canada, Mexico, France, Ghana, Brazil, Colombia and Germany. Six players represent the home state of Arizona, including Diego Veliz (Tucson/Salpointe Catholic), Lalo Serrano (Glendale/Brophy Prep), Iann Topete (San Luis/San Luis), Austin Pearcy (Phoenix/Boulder Creek), Lorenzo Mendoza (Mesa/Real Salt Lake AZ) and Nelson Gomez Rodriguez (Phoenix/Carl Hayden).

BRIGHT WAY TO OPEN THE SEASON

The Lopes opened the season with a 3-0 victory over Western Illinois on Aug. 22 at GCU Stadium. Since GCU Stadium opened August 26, 2016, the Lopes have never dropped a home opener with a 9-0 mark.
GCU scored its first goal of the season via Nutornutsi, who found the back of the net in the 37th minute. The team and crowd had barely any time to celebrate it, as 45 seconds later Nutornutsi scored his second goal of the game to give the Lopes a 2-0 lead.
Nutornutsi earned WAC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his performance against Western Illinois.
Muñoz put GCU up 3-0 with a bicycle kick goal, his first as a Lope, as sophomore midfielder Jorge Lopez notched a career-best two assists.
Since 2016, the Lopes are 43-18-5 in GCU Stadium.

SCHMIDT ON PACE FOR RECORD-BREAKING YEAR

Senior goalkeeper Leon Schmidt ended the 2023 campaign ranked 16th in the nation in saves (72) and save percentage (.800) while adding a career-high four shutouts and a 1.14 goals against average. He entered this season among the best to ever to do it in goal at GCU.
Schmidt began the season with a shutout versus Western Illinois for his ninth career shutout and seventh as a Lope. He stopped all three shots toward goal in the second half.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Lopes stay in North Carolina and face Elon on Monday at 4 p.m. (Phoenix time).
The meeting will be the first ever between the two schools, making it the third straight opponent that the Lopes will face for the first time in program history.