Southern California road trip starts Thursday at San Diego State

AT A GLANCE

Coming off a 3-1 victory over (RV) Utah Valley Saturday, GCU hits the road for two straight conference matchups, the first against San Diego State Thursday night at 7 p.m.
Tomorrow's contest will not be streamed. Live stats will be provided on gculopes.com
Freshman Junior Diouf earned a plethora of accolades this week, including College Soccer News Freshman of the Week, TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week, and WAC Offensive Player of the Week. Diouf ranks in the top five nationally in goals, points, goals per game, points per game, and shots on goal per game.
GCU earned receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Poll for the first time this season and is the highest rated WAC team in the RPI at No. 38.
The Lopes rank near the top nationally and in the WAC on both sides of the ball. Their goal differential of 11 is 27th in the nation (third in WAC) while their 1.9 goals per game are 39th best in the country and second among WAC schools.
GCU has not allowed more than one goal in any game this season. It ranks 30th in the country with a .800 goals against average, with goalkeeper Daniel Ibarra among the nation's best in save percentage (.861/9th) and goals against (.667/24th). Ibarra is 5-2-1 with 35 saves this season as a starter.
GCU has won seven games at home and holds a 7-1 record at GCU Stadium to date. It is the most wins at GCU Stadium since the facility opened in 2016, trailing only the 2021 team that won nine. The Lopes enter Thursday with their third road match of the season, going 0-1-1 in the prior two.
Fourteen different Lopes have tallied a point this season for GCU. Junior Jorge Lopez scored his first goal of the season vs. Utah Valley, putting the total goal scorer count to eight different players this season.
Graduate Ben Assane leads the Lopes with four assists, third most in the WAC.
Diouf's 10 goals are now fourth most in the program's D-I era for a single season. The freshman has six regular season games left to catch Niki Jackson's record of 16 set in 2016.

LAST TIME OUT

GCU defeated Utah Valley, 3-1, last Saturday in its conference opener at GCU Stadium.
Diouf scored his fourth goal in two matches with another brace as both goals came in the second half. His first goal of the contest was this third game-winning goal of the season.
Lopez knotted the game up at 1-1 late in the first half via a free kick for his first score of the 2025 campaign.
Utah Valley entered the match with one goal allowed in seven games prior to facing GCU.

SCOUTING SAN DIEGO STATE

The Aztecs are 5-6-0 on the season and opened WAC play with a 3-2 win at Air Force last week.
San Diego State has won three of its last four games including each of its last two.
SDSU is 1-1 against common non-conference opponents, losing to Santa Clara (2-0) and defeating CSU Fullerton 1-0.
Their offense is led by Jesus Zepeda, who ranks fourth in the WAC with four goals.
Goalkeeper Eddy Vargas has 35 saves in nine games played, matching Ibarra's total for the season.

WHAT'S NEXT?

GCU stays on the road and closes out its two match road trip Sunday at California Baptist in Riverside, California.

Southern California road trip starts Thursday at San Diego State

AT A GLANCE

LAST TIME OUT

SCOUTING SAN DIEGO STATE

WHAT'S NEXT?

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ben Assane

Junior Diouf

Daniel Ibarra

Jorge Lopez

Grand Canyon University Athletics

Southern California road trip starts Thursday at San Diego State

AT A GLANCE

LAST TIME OUT

SCOUTING SAN DIEGO STATE

WHAT'S NEXT?

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ben Assane

Junior Diouf

Daniel Ibarra

Jorge Lopez

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