Completed Event: Women's Soccer versus Idaho on September 11, 2025 , Win , 1, to, 0
W Soccer
vs Idaho
W 1-0
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Sunday, September 28
Phoenix, Ariz.
7 p.m.
Grand Canyon
6-4-0, 1-1-0
4
vs
2
Air Force
2-5-2, 0-1-0
1
2
F
Air Force
2
0
2
Grand Canyon
3
1
4
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Offense erupts to notch GCU's 1st MW win
9/28/2025 10:54:00 PM | Women's Soccer, Paul Coro
Clem scores twice; Knack's 16 saves tie Lopes DI-era record
Whatever Mountain West success comes for Grand Canyon teams in future years began Sunday night with a GCU women's soccer team that was fed up with relying on defense.
The Lopes scored their fastest goal of the season and set their season scoring high before halftime on the way to GCU Athletics' first Mountain West win – a 4-2 victory against Air Force at GCU Stadium.
Lopes sophomore forward Reese Clem scored twice in the first 17 minutes before senior midfielder Grace Bartlett's free-kick blasts scored one goal and assisted another goal for GCU's first four-score match since Aug. 25, 2024, against Little Rock.
It stood up because Lopes junior goalkeeper Emma Knack made 16 saves to tie the GCU Division I-era record, set by Lauren Garthwaite in 2019, and log the most saves made in a Mountain West match since 1999.
The Lopes' first win carried the added history of GCU head coach Chris Cissell's 450th win, accumulated by being the all-time wins leader for four programs (Lopes women, Kansas City women and William Jewell's men and women).
"This is super special," Cissell said. "Obviously, I wanted to do it Thursday night, but we'll take it tonight. We haven't scored more than two goals all season, so to score four was awesome. I was super proud of that. I told them I was proud that we won both halves."
GCU (6-4, 1-1 MW) won the first half 3-2 in the first Lopes' match that included multiple goals in a half from both teams since 2013 against Kansas City, which was then coached by Cissell.
The Lopes staff returned Clem to the front, going from a recent 3-5-2 formation to the 4-3-3 that paid immediate dividends when Clem scored in the second minute.
Just when Air Force broke up a GCU attack, Lopes senior midfielder AJ Loera was first to the ball at the top center of the box and tapped wide left to Clem alone. Clem's left-footed blast was perfectly placed diagonally to the right-upper corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.
The Falcons (2-5-2, 0-1 MW) scored twice in a 2 1/2-minute span, including one goal that deflected off a Lopes defender.
But two minutes after Air Force took a 2-1 lead, GCU responded when senior defender Jayden Sanders was wide right and passed to sophomore forward Ellie Johannes on the right side of the box. Johannes pivoted quickly for a pinpoint assist to Clem alone near the left post, where a tap-in for her first career brace tied the match at 2-2.
"I got back up forward and got excited," Clem said about the formation change. "I think we're more dangerous with three up top, especially against another three-back because it's 3v3. It's just more open space on those wide channels."
Another adjustment with more opportunity for Bartlett paid off when her strong leg blasted her first goal of the season on a 30-yard free kick, an opportunity drawn by senior forward Hannah Smith. Bartlett was as accurate as she was strong, placing the shot over the Air Force goalkeeper's leaping, outstretched arms for a GCU 3-2 lead in the 29th minute.
Bartlett took another shot on goal in the 40th minute but the 3-2 lead stood without another Lopes shot on goal until the 67th minute, when GCU freshman Mai-Helen Nguyen Todnem's shot on goal was denied by a diving, deflecting save that sent the ball trickling in front of the goal line. Air Force recovered just before senior forward Payton Fisher could get to it.
Still leading by one, Knack made 10 of her saves in the second half with the best one coming when she jumped and caught a high, powerful shot in the 72nd minute. Otherwise, the GCU defense helped the Falcons not power up or have angle options on Knack.
Knack's 16 saves also set a Mountain West single-match high, breaking her own mark of 11 that she had set twice (at Oregon and vs. Northern Arizona).
Knack has tallied 77 saves in 890 minutes at GCU after making 34 saves in 1,090 minutes last season at South Dakota State.
"We were only letting them get off softer shots that were easy for me to get," Knack said. "I didn't think I was going to be that busy the whole game. You see other goalkeepers around the nation get a three- to five-save game. It's crazy to rack up over double digits."
As Air Force took 27 shots, graduate Kennedy Chambers and sophomore Samantha Amato cleared the Falcons' penetration chances in the box to preserve GCU's 3-2 lead until another Bartlett banger.
With a free kick outside of the box in the 83rd minute, Bartlett powered a shot off the crossbar that ricocheted downward. Johannes converged and headed the rebound's high bounce into the net for the 4-2 cushion.
"I've kept my head down and kept grinding," said Bartlett, a co-captain who played a season-high 62 minutes. "It hit me that my career is almost over. I only have a few games left on this field in this jersey. Tonight felt like the night that I needed to end my senior year on a good note.
"We've been waiting for a night like this all season. We needed a breakthrough to score some goals. Our energy was super good as a team."
GCU was coming off a 2-1 Thursday loss to San Diego State while Air Force was playing its conference opener after being off since a Sept. 19 win.
The Lopes will take their first MW road trip for matches Thursday at Nevada and next Sunday at San José State.
"This gives us a good boost of confidence to come out in the next game even stronger," Clem said.
Cissell's teams have gone 66-35-12, adding to his 102-63-22 record at Kansas City, 168-57-12 record for William Jewell women and 114-49-10 record for William Jewell men to reach 450 career coaching victories.
"It just means I've been coaching a long time," Cissell said. "Now the winningest coach at all four programs that I've coached at. These are the stats that my sons keep sending me."
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The Lopes scored their fastest goal of the season and set their season scoring high before halftime on the way to GCU Athletics' first Mountain West win – a 4-2 victory against Air Force at GCU Stadium.
Lopes sophomore forward Reese Clem scored twice in the first 17 minutes before senior midfielder Grace Bartlett's free-kick blasts scored one goal and assisted another goal for GCU's first four-score match since Aug. 25, 2024, against Little Rock.
It stood up because Lopes junior goalkeeper Emma Knack made 16 saves to tie the GCU Division I-era record, set by Lauren Garthwaite in 2019, and log the most saves made in a Mountain West match since 1999.
The Lopes' first win carried the added history of GCU head coach Chris Cissell's 450th win, accumulated by being the all-time wins leader for four programs (Lopes women, Kansas City women and William Jewell's men and women)."This is super special," Cissell said. "Obviously, I wanted to do it Thursday night, but we'll take it tonight. We haven't scored more than two goals all season, so to score four was awesome. I was super proud of that. I told them I was proud that we won both halves."
GCU (6-4, 1-1 MW) won the first half 3-2 in the first Lopes' match that included multiple goals in a half from both teams since 2013 against Kansas City, which was then coached by Cissell.
The Lopes staff returned Clem to the front, going from a recent 3-5-2 formation to the 4-3-3 that paid immediate dividends when Clem scored in the second minute.
Just when Air Force broke up a GCU attack, Lopes senior midfielder AJ Loera was first to the ball at the top center of the box and tapped wide left to Clem alone. Clem's left-footed blast was perfectly placed diagonally to the right-upper corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.
The Falcons (2-5-2, 0-1 MW) scored twice in a 2 1/2-minute span, including one goal that deflected off a Lopes defender.
But two minutes after Air Force took a 2-1 lead, GCU responded when senior defender Jayden Sanders was wide right and passed to sophomore forward Ellie Johannes on the right side of the box. Johannes pivoted quickly for a pinpoint assist to Clem alone near the left post, where a tap-in for her first career brace tied the match at 2-2."I got back up forward and got excited," Clem said about the formation change. "I think we're more dangerous with three up top, especially against another three-back because it's 3v3. It's just more open space on those wide channels."
Another adjustment with more opportunity for Bartlett paid off when her strong leg blasted her first goal of the season on a 30-yard free kick, an opportunity drawn by senior forward Hannah Smith. Bartlett was as accurate as she was strong, placing the shot over the Air Force goalkeeper's leaping, outstretched arms for a GCU 3-2 lead in the 29th minute.
Bartlett took another shot on goal in the 40th minute but the 3-2 lead stood without another Lopes shot on goal until the 67th minute, when GCU freshman Mai-Helen Nguyen Todnem's shot on goal was denied by a diving, deflecting save that sent the ball trickling in front of the goal line. Air Force recovered just before senior forward Payton Fisher could get to it.Still leading by one, Knack made 10 of her saves in the second half with the best one coming when she jumped and caught a high, powerful shot in the 72nd minute. Otherwise, the GCU defense helped the Falcons not power up or have angle options on Knack.
Knack's 16 saves also set a Mountain West single-match high, breaking her own mark of 11 that she had set twice (at Oregon and vs. Northern Arizona).
Knack has tallied 77 saves in 890 minutes at GCU after making 34 saves in 1,090 minutes last season at South Dakota State."We were only letting them get off softer shots that were easy for me to get," Knack said. "I didn't think I was going to be that busy the whole game. You see other goalkeepers around the nation get a three- to five-save game. It's crazy to rack up over double digits."
As Air Force took 27 shots, graduate Kennedy Chambers and sophomore Samantha Amato cleared the Falcons' penetration chances in the box to preserve GCU's 3-2 lead until another Bartlett banger.
With a free kick outside of the box in the 83rd minute, Bartlett powered a shot off the crossbar that ricocheted downward. Johannes converged and headed the rebound's high bounce into the net for the 4-2 cushion.
"I've kept my head down and kept grinding," said Bartlett, a co-captain who played a season-high 62 minutes. "It hit me that my career is almost over. I only have a few games left on this field in this jersey. Tonight felt like the night that I needed to end my senior year on a good note.
"We've been waiting for a night like this all season. We needed a breakthrough to score some goals. Our energy was super good as a team."
GCU was coming off a 2-1 Thursday loss to San Diego State while Air Force was playing its conference opener after being off since a Sept. 19 win.
The Lopes will take their first MW road trip for matches Thursday at Nevada and next Sunday at San José State.
"This gives us a good boost of confidence to come out in the next game even stronger," Clem said.
Cissell's teams have gone 66-35-12, adding to his 102-63-22 record at Kansas City, 168-57-12 record for William Jewell women and 114-49-10 record for William Jewell men to reach 450 career coaching victories.
"It just means I've been coaching a long time," Cissell said. "Now the winningest coach at all four programs that I've coached at. These are the stats that my sons keep sending me."
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Team Stats
UAF
GCU
Goals
2
4
Shots
27
14
Shots on Goal
18
8
Saves
4
16
Corners
5
1
Fouls
11
7
Scoring Plays
Reese Clem (3)
Assisted By: AJ Loera
GOAL by GCU Clem, Reese Assist by Loera, AJ.
01:58
Chase Borntreger (2)
GOAL by UAF Borntreger, Chase.
11:36
Annika Jost (3)
Assisted By: Elizabeth McCarron , Chase Borntreger
GOAL by UAF Jost, Annika Assist by McCarron, Elizabeth and Borntreger, Chase.
14:04
Reese Clem (3)
Assisted By: Ellie Johannes
GOAL by GCU Clem, Reese Assist by Johannes, Ellie.
16:17
Grace Bartlett (1)
GOAL by GCU Bartlett, Grace.
28:59
Ellie Johannes (3)
Assisted By: Grace Bartlett
GOAL by GCU Johannes, Ellie Assist by Bartlett, Grace.
82:36
Game Leaders
Players
fwd
Shots
2
SOG
2
Goals
2
Assists
0
Shots
4
SOG
3
Goals
1
Assists
1
Shots
4
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
D
/ Women's Soccer
M
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's SoccerF
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
F
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