Lopes look for bounce-back on road

Thursday, August 21

Northridge, Calif.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

CSUN

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

8/20/2025 3:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer

GCU faces unbeaten CSUN on Thursday evening

By: Braden Dohrmann

Thursday, Aug. 21 \| 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| Matador Soccer Field \| Northridge, California

	CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE MATADORS (1-0-1)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (0-1-0)

WATCH: ESPN+ \| STATS: View

The Lopes head to California to face unbeaten CSUN in the Lopes' first road match of the season.

GCU lost its season opener 4-1 against UC Irvine last Thursday. Freshman Maya Paeske scored the Lopes' goal in her college debut.
Grand Canyon enters its first season as a Mountain West member, coming off an 11-6-3 season in which the Lopes fell in the WAC Tournament title match.
The Lopes won three conference titles in their time in the WAC (two-time WAC Tournament champs plus a regular-season title). All three titles came under head coach Chris Cissell.
GCU received votes in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll last season for the first time in program history.
Cissell signed a multiyear contract extension this offseason, keeping him in Phoenix.
Senior midfielder AJ Loera is three assists away from the program's all-time record set by Marleen Schimmer and Leah Pirro (18).
Sophomore forward Ellie Johannes, junior midfielder AJ Loera and junior forward Neve Renwick were named to the Mountain West Preseason Watch List.
GCU faces four common opponents from its 2024 schedule. The Lopes went 3-1 against those opponents with wins over NAU, Nevada and Air Force. They fell to Arizona 1-0.
The Lopes had 14 players with an assist and eight players with multiple assists last season.
Starting goalkeeper Emma Knack, a junior who transferred from South Dakota State, got NCAA Tournament experience in the net in 2024.
Grand Canyon has not began its season with consecutive losses since 2020.
The GCU roster features seven Arizona natives, including three transfers who returned home and three freshmen.

Grand Canyon joins the Mountain West this fall, making the Lopes the 13th team in the conference for the 2025 season.
Each team in the MW will play 10 conference matches (five home, five away) over a six-week period.
The top six teams will make the Mountain West Championship in Boise, Idaho, with the tournament winner collecting an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Conference coaches picked GCU to take fifth in the Preseason Coaches Poll. Utah State was picked to take first.
Grand Canyon will not play Utah State (predicted No. 1) or Colorado State (No. 3) during the regular season.

This is the fourth all-time meeting between CSUN and GCU, with the Matadors holding a 2-1 advantage.
GCU last played CSUN in Phoenix on Sept. 22, 2019, when the Matadors won 2-0.
CSUN senior Cailey Jackson leads the team offensively with a goal and assist through two matches. She was a top contributor in 2024 as well.
Matadors goalkeeper Riley Liebsack has been in goal for the team's first 180 minutes of play, shutting out San Jose State on Sunday.

Grand Canyon will travel to Oregon to face Portland State and Oregon over a four-day span.
Portland State is 0-1-1 heading into Week 2, tying Iowa State on the road.
Oregon is 1-0-1 heading into Week 2, most recently tying Portland.