Weather delays and slow start lead to Lopes loss

Thursday, October 9

Albuquerque, N.M.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

7-6-0, 2-3-0

New Mexico

6-2-4, 2-0-2

Grand Canyon

New Mexico

Photo by: Jayden Todd

10/9/2025 10:43:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

GCU drops match at New Mexico, 4-1

By: Braden Dohrmann

Lightning delays and a hot start from New Mexico were enough to leave the Lopes playing catch-up Thursday night in Albuquerque, when GCU fell 4-1 to the Lobos.

A scheduled 7 p.m. local, 6 p.m. (Phoenix time) start was doomed from the get-go, as lightning surrounded the Albuquerque area most of the night. The match finally began an hour after the initial planned kick off, only making it ten minutes into the match before lightning again stopped and delayed the match. At 8 p.m. (Phoenix time), the match resumed and received no more delays throughout.

New Mexico (6-2-4, 2-0-2 MW) was ready for the challenge that was refocusing despite the delays and weather. The Lobos dominated the first half, firing 13 shots, nine of which were on goal, scoring three times.

In the 20th minute, UNM's Kennedy Brown was able to get a shot off in the middle of the box where multiple GCU defenders attempted to clear the ball. The shot found the back of the net to start the evening's scoring. The Lobos would grab two more scores in the next 20 minutes, one on a rebound shot from a Knack save.

The offensive onslaught from New Mexico did not necessarily come as a surprise, with the Lobos leading the Mountain West in goals, points and goals per match coming into the week. It was quite the matchup on paper as they took on Emma Knack in goal who leads the conference in saves.

Knack managed six saves in the first half and was benched in the second half as many of her fellow starters were. In fact, for the first time all season, all 22 players on the travel roster appeared in the match, including redshirt-freshman goalkeeper Taylor Gardner, who made just her second career appearance.

Gardner allowed one goal and added three saves of her own in the second half. She made a diving, highlight-worthy save in the 79th minute.

GCU managed to get on the scoreboard in the final minute of play, when freshman defender Elle Stanley cleaned up a deflected corner kick for a goal.

The goal is Stanley's first of her career, although she did score on a corner in the Lopes exhibition match vs New Mexico State before the regular season began. She was assisted by her former SC Del Sol club teammate Caprice Chiuchiolo on the play. Chiuchiolo now has recorded a goal and assist in her freshman campaign.

Grand Canyon moves to 7-6 (2-3 MW) on the season, still without a single draw this season. Their six points in conference play put them in a tie for fourth place with three other teams in the MW.

One of those teams is UNLV, where GCU heads next. The team will fly to Vegas in the morning as they prepare for a noon start on Sunday at UNLV. The Rebels tied San Diego State at home tonight.