Early goals make way for tight defense in 1-1 draw

Sunday, September 15

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Cal State Fullerton

9/15/2024 9:54:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

Assane scores 1st goal of season; GCU moves to 3-2-2

By: Nick Macdonald

Coming off a 1-1 draw at Santa Clara on Thursday night, Grand Canyon found the back of the net early Sunday night and tightened its second-half defense to tie Cal State Fullerton 1-1 at GCU Stadium.

Highlights

It was the first time since Sept. 30, 2016, and Oct. 2, 2016, that tthe Lopes have tied in back-to-back contests.
GCU senior forward Ben Assane scored his first goal of the season, moving his season point total to five, which is third best on the team. Graduate midfielder Jony Muñoz tallied his second assist.
The first-half goal was GCU's ninth of the season over 11 matches.
As both defenses kept its opposing offenses from creating chances, the Lopes limited the Titans to a season-low six shots for the match. It was the lowest opponent shot total since Nov. 9, 2022.

As has been documented all season, GCU (3-2-2) looked to attack the goal early, recording two shots through the game's first 12 minutes. The Lopes passing and fluidity around the box gave GCU the early advantage when freshman midfielder Damon Rouse used his speed to get to the top left corner of the box. His pass to Muñoz allowed Assane to break free on the 18-yard line box. Assane took the ball from Muñoz, faked one shot before a hard touch with his right gave him enough distance to fire toward the bottom left corner of the goal.

Cal State Fullerton (2-3-2) tallied its first shot in the 20th minute, but soon after found the equalizer. Roberto Ordonez and Erick Serrano had a back-and-forth passing game in front of senior goalkeeper Leon Schmidt, with the eventual outcome being Serrano to Ordonez for the goal.

The teams combined for nine shots a 1-1 tie at the break.

The defensive play from both sides tightened up from nearly everywhere on the pitch as each team could only muster two shots toward net for the entire second half. Physicality also came into play, as 15 fouls were called in the second half with 29 for the match.

Schmidt totaled two saves after having 20 in his last three outings combined.

GCU is back in action Thursday night at No. 19 San Diego (4-0-2). It is the Lopes' third matchup against a team ranked or receiving votes this season and second of three WCC opponents.