Lopes break 1-1 tie with 14 seconds to go to win season opener at home
By: Paul Coro
Just after 7 p.m. Thursday, the Grand Canyon men's soccer regular season kicked off with a scoreless first half that was followed by a two-hour-plus weather delay and a Jacksonville goal with 18 1/2 minutes remaining.
In the night's final hour, a Lopes star was born. Junior Diouf
GCU freshman Junior Diouf scored two electric goals in the match's final 10 minutes, the last one breaking a tie with 14 seconds remaining to lift the Lopes to a 2-1 win at GCU Stadium.
If not for the timeliness of the final onslaught, Diouf's first goal would have been the night's highlight with a dance past two Dolphins defenders along the goal line before tying the game 1-1 in the 81st minute.
The 6-foot-1 forward from Senegal, via New Jersey prep power St. Benedict's, started GCU's last-ditch surge with a long ball from the midfield to right sideline, where Lopes freshman Diego Sanchez raced to keep the ball inbound.
GCU graduate forward Ben Assane centered the ball to Diouf trailing the play, but his shot was blocked. With composure, Diouf regained possession and passed right in the box to junior midfielder Jorge Lopez, whose diagonal shot ricocheted off the opposite post.
Assane raced in to fire the rebound back on goal, requiring the Jacksonville goalkeeper to make a hand save that knocked the ball to the top of the goal area for Diouf, composed again, to touch control the ball with his left foot and score with his right foot.
"I'm feeling very good," said Diouf, who came off the bench Thursday night. "I scored two goals first, and I scored the winning goal for my first game in college. It's now my favorite.
"That (team reaction) made me happy because I'm here for this (team) , and I hope I'm going to score a lot of goals this season." George Kiefer
GCU head coach George Kiefer made four substitutions in the match's final 21 minutes, and the Lopes outshot the Dolphins 11-0 after Jacksonville took a 1-0 lead in the 72nd minute.
Diouf's goals reversed the offensive slide that ended last GCU season, when the Lopes scored once over an 0-5-1 finish.
The restocked roster was clear in a starting lineup that included five freshmen. Diouf came off the bench for 31 minutes, but Lopez's presence was game-changing when the Lopes' returning top scorer came back from injury to play only the final six minutes of the match.
"They just kept believing," Kiefer said. "Even prior to giving up the goal, we started the second half really well and were creating stuff. To go down and not put our heads down, I was really pleased that the guys kept pushing and pushing. That helps a team, for sure, when you get that mentality."
Kiefer credited a home-field advantage with keeping GCU ready during the extended rainy intermission with nearby lightning.
Along with the work of assistant athletic trainer Kyle Patrick and sports performance coach Isiah Araujo, the Lopes also were able to watch video and took the field with a speed of play and spacing that it did not display in the first half.
The Lopes' second-half opportunities immediately created pressure but they did not launch any shots until after Jacksonville capitalized on its first opportunity – a corner kick that it turned into Logan Hall's far-post header goal in the 72nd minute.
The Dolphins did not get off another shot for the remainder of the match. Viggo Gustavsson
"It was one of the craziest games I've played," said GCU sophomore defender Viggo Gustavsson, a returning starter. "I learned my team is really mentally strong, and my teammates are really good at soccer. For Jorge and Junior to come on and bring that energy into us, we really needed that.
"I've got an incredibly good feeling about the mentality of the returning guys, the coaching staff and the new guys. It was really fun to see."
Diouf's game-tying goal started with GCU junior defender Felipe Cobian's long ball from the midfield to Diouf on the left side.
Diouf staggered the first Dolphins defenseman to head along the goal line, where he squeezed past one more defender with a left-to-right touch before finishing at an acute angle.
"I was watching Neymar, the best player in the world," Diouf said of his goal's inspiration.
The 18-year-old showed the same collected nature on the second goal, when he shifted the ball again from left to right to score.
"He's just so calm around there," Kiefer said of Diouf. "A lot of guys get frantic there. He pushes it in the net and celebrates, but he scores before he celebrates.
"He has a gift for that stuff. We've just got to get him fit and teach him to work on the other side of the ball."
The Lopes' late-night escape nearly bled into Saturday with their next game coming Monday night at home against Cleveland State. GCU is opening the season on a five-match home stretch, continuing with Sacramento State next Thursday, No. 5 SMU on Sept. 4 and Santa Clara on Sept. 8.
"We're pleased, but there's a lot of work to do," Kiefer said. "The timing, rhythm and spacing were off, but you expect that on Night 1."
Kiefer credited a home-field advantage with keeping GCU ready during the extended rainy intermission with nearby lightning.
