Shorthanded goal pushes GCU record to 3-0

Thursday, August 28

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

3-0-0, 0-0-0

Sacramento State

0-2-1, 0-0-0

Sacramento St.

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Luke Greenwall

8/28/2025 11:13:00 PM | Men's Soccer, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

Despite red card to Diouf after his 4th goal, Lopes win on Hermitte PK score

By: Paul Coro

Down a goal in the first two matches, Grand Canyon men's soccer persevered for comeback wins.

Down a man Thursday night, GCU showed the resiliency of a saguaro in a monsoon storm to break a tie with less than seven minutes remaining and beat Sacramento State 2-1 at GCU Stadium.

The Lopes became one of five 3-0 teams in the nation despite losing freshman sensation Junior Diouf, who scored his fourth goal in the first half, to a questionable red card when the game was tied 1-1 in the 71st minute.

Ben Assane

On a night when it outshot Sacramento State 19-12, GCU remained the aggressor despite being limited to 10 men on the field for the final 19 minutes, and that pressure drew a penalty kick that resulted in the game-winner.

"They just stayed locked in and onto what's next," Lopes head coach George Kiefer said of his team's reaction to the debated red-card ruling that could lead to Diouf being suspended for next Thursday's SMU match. "That was a great, great sign. Most important was the mentality and not getting rattled. You see teams hurt themselves when they don't like something on the field. It was just carry on down a man."

Even before the go-ahead score, the Lopes' aggression led to graduate forward Ben Assane firing one shot that required a diving Hornets save and another strike that went over the goal.

When Lopes junior Felipe Cobian fed Assane breaking away, it led to a Sacramento State foul in the box and a penalty kick for GCU sophomore forward Alan Hermitte, who had just subbed into the match three minutes earlier.

Despite the Sacramento State goalkeeper guessing the right direction for Hermitte's kick, his left-foot power and precision parked the Frenchman's first career goal inside the right post.

"My last two games, I was not confident," Hermitte said. "I was like, 'This is my opportunity to get back the confidence that the coaches give me when they put me on the field. I was just like, 'Just take it. You practice it at training, and everything is fine. So why would you not take it when the opportunity is there?' It's good for me and thanks to Ben to earn the PK."

The Lopes clutched the lead for the final six minutes, when Sacramento State earned its first corner kick of the match and put a shot on goal in the 86th minute. Graduate transfer Daniel Ibarra, who made his GCU debut in goal to open the second half, stopped that shot and saw another Hornets shot fly over goal just before the final horn.

"A lot of credit to the guys' fight," Kiefer said. "Down a man, it looked like we were up a man."

The Lopes' first 3-0 start since 2021 has included at least one Diouf goal in each win.

The Senegal native's Thursday night goal came from great end-to-end play by GCU, starting with a second-effort takeaway by sophomore center back Liam Harrington.

In the 26th minute, Harrington won possession and quickly moved the ball ahead to junior midfielder Jorge Lopez, who placed a perfect pass that allowed Diouf to split two Hornets defenders as he blew by them with the ball.

Diouf juked the goalkeeper, who recovered to where Diouf had stopped the ball deeper in the box. Diouf faked him again to move right and score despite a defender's header attempt.

With four goals, Diouf is tied for the second most in the nation. Only Shaun Joash and Bright Nutornutsi have scored more goals in a GCU season since 2022.

"Liam recovered the ball twice and then he gave me a pass, and I saw so much green space in front of me," Lopez said. "I saw Junior and a split between right back and the center back. I said, 'This is a goal.' He's him right now. I just had to feed him."

Sacramento State tied the match on a rebound off a goalkeeper carom in the 33rd minute, sending the game to halftime at 1-1 despite a 7-3 GCU advantage in shots.

The matched stayed tied at 1-1 for most of the second half, but the Lopes swung momentum as Kiefer used four substitutions between the 63rd and 67th minutes.

"The biggest thing is I have a lot of confidence in guys that could play," Kiefer said. "I put five different guys to start the second half. I'm not bothered by it because I watch training habits."

The Lopes will have a week to prepare for SMU, a preseason top-five team that tied No. 18 Kansas City 2-2, lost 1-0 at Saint Louis and defeated Loyola Marymount 3-1 on Thursday night. The Mustangs plays Oral Roberts on Sunday before the 7 p.m. match Thursday at GCU Stadium.

Entering Friday's matches, only GCU, Stanford, North Carolina, Florida Atlantic and Utah Valley are 3-0.

"From Day 1, this team's mentality that has been going around the locker room has been, 'Never give up,' " Lopez said. "Everyone is giving energy and feeding positivity to the team on the field."