GCU gets 1st NCAAs win on PKs at UCLA

Thursday, November 20

Los Angeles, CA

3 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

13-3-5, 3-1-3

UCLA

8-6-5, 5-3-2

Grand Canyon

UCLA

Photo by: Nick Macdonald

11/20/2025 6:44:00 PM | Men's Soccer, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

Lopes advance to Sunday round-of-32 match at San Diego

By: Paul Coro

LOS ANGELES — Where other teams see miserable rain, the Grand Canyon men's soccer team sees a rewarding rainbow awaiting them.

For the second consecutive do-or-die postseason match, the Lopes played through a downpour Thursday to extend their season by beating host UCLA on penalty kicks for the program's first NCAA Division I Tournament victory. The Lopes were drenched but made a program splash by blanking the red-hot Bruins through 110 minutes and winning on GCU freshman defender Charles Volcy's penalty kick.

After outscoring the Bruins 3-1 on penalty kicks, the Lopes (13-3-5) advance to a Sunday second-round game at national No. 9 seed San Diego (13-3-2) at 6 p.m. Phoenix time.

"This team has set a standard, but I certainly don't want to give our eulogy right now," GCU head coach George Kiefer said. "All we did is buy three more days together, which is great because we have so much fun. Hopefully, we can buy a little more time than that."

Martin Luala vs. UCLA

GCU continued its nine-match unbeaten streak by shutting out UCLA after the Bruins had scored 21 goals during a five-match winning streak that included toppling No. 1 Maryland 2-0 and No. 10 Michigan 5-0 as Big Ten Tournament champions.

The Lopes won the WAC Tournament in rain-soaked conditions and were back in them Thursday with unrelenting rain at UCLA's Annenberg Stadium.

The other constant has been the GCU defense, which has allowed one goal in four postseason matches. The Lopes shut out Bruins scoring star Sergi Solans Ormo, who entered with 16 goals to rank second to national leader and GCU freshman forward Junior Diouf's 17.

"We had to be surgical with the ball today, and I thought we did a good job for the most part," Kiefer said. "On this type of field, the commitment of the group was excellent."

When the match went to penalty kicks after two 90-minute halves and two 10-minute overtime periods at 0-0, UCLA switched its goalkeeper to freshman Ryan Tiltack and the Bruins led 1-0 after the first round.

After that, UCLA never made another penalty kick with GCU graduate goalkeeper Daniel Ibarra knocking down the third-round attempt by Artem Vovk.

Meanwhile, the Lopes made their next three penalty kicks to win 3-1 when Volcy, a defensive hero through much of the match, put his shot into the upper-left quadrant of the net as Tiltack dived the opposite way. Previously, GCU sophomore forward Alan Hermitte tied it at 1-1 in the second round and Diouf went to 4 for 4 on penalty kicks this season by slow-walking a third-round make.

Charles Volcy

"I felt confidence because I made my penalties in practice" said Volcy, who is from Montreal, Quebec. "I was talking because their fans were talking a lot, so it was good to score in front of them and to celebrate with my teammates."

After Diouf scored on his penalty kick, he turned back to give Ibarra a hug before he re-entered the goal and told him, 'You got this."

"I was like, 'Thank you, I got this,' " Ibarra said. "If Junior says I got this, I do."

Flanked by sophomore Viggo Gustavsson and junior Felipe Cobian on the back line, Volcy headed away numerous first-half threats as UCLA outshot GCU 7-2 before halftime but only 10-8 for the remainder.

"We know we have a good defense, so we're really not bothered for them to have the ball," Volcy said. "We had to be focused all game, and that's what we did. We didn't concede."

Ibarra needed to make six saves, but he was most effective for most of the match with his decision-making on when to aggressively come out for mid-air grabs.

In the 79th minute of the second half, Ibarra's leg broke up Ormo's best chance in the box, created by a long cross and far-post header back to Ormo in the middle.

Daniel Ibarra

But Ibarra's finest moment came at the start of the second 10-minute overtime period, when any goal would have ended the match. In the second minute of that period and 102nd minute of the match, UCLA set Ormo up to redirect a pass with header onto the goal. Ibarra read the shot, diving left to deflect it. The ball sat momentarily near the goal line in front of an empty net, but Cobian cleared the ball.

"It went pretty fast, but I saw the ball coming and tried to touch it," Ibarra said. "Felipe got my back there. It was amazing. I think God helped me over there.

"Big games need big players, so that's what I'm trying to do."

GCU's first-half threats were mostly kept to counterattacks as Diouf had difficulty with some of his go-to moves on the slick field. UCLA controlled possession without threat because of the GCU back line and help from midfielders Martin Luala, a junior, and Diego Sanchez, a freshman. Luala also had one of the best scoring chances when he fired over the goal in the second half, when Sanchez also made a steal but could not connect with Diouf on a breakaway.

The Lopes have shut out four of their past five opponents and have eight on the season.

"I give a lot of credit to the group for what we've done," Sanchez said. "All the blood, sweat and tears that we put into it. The 5 a.m. wake-ups. All of it came down to this. We made history, but we want more. That grit to win comes from the underestimation that we got from everybody all season."

GCU is 2-0 all-time against UCLA with this win and a 2022 win, both of which came in Westwood.

"I'm really thankful to the team because it's not just a team; it's a family," said Lopes sophomore Sergine Babacar Diallo, who was the Lopes' only defender off the bench. "We stuck together, and that's the result of brotherhood. The coaches are phenomenal guys. They're not just coaches because of the way they help us and push us. The team cohesion is incredible. I think we can do much more."