Completed Event: Men's Soccer at Utah Tech on September 30, 2026 , Win , 3, to, 1
M Soccer
at Utah Tech
W 3-1
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Sunday, October 18
Phoenix, Ariz.
7 p.m.
Grand Canyon
9-5-0, 6-0-0
2
vs
0
Utah Tech
1-11-2, 0-5-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utah Tech | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Canyon | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Photo by: Jenna Quinn
2-way play boosts GCU win streak to 7
10/18/2026 10:18:00 PM | Men's Soccer, Paul Coro
Lopes' 2-0 win vs. Utah Tech puts MW lead at 6 points, clinches tourney spot
A seven-match winning streak can be defined by goals, especially when Grand Canyon has taken a first-half lead in each of those victories.
But zeroes on the other side of the halftime scoreboard in each of GCU's six consecutive conference wins also gives credit to the Lopes defense, exemplified in GCU's 2-0 home win against Utah Tech on Sunday night. The overall seven-match winning streak is tied for the nation's second longest to High Point's eight.
The box score shows that Lopes midfielders João Gonçalinho's and Jorge Lopez's goals were the difference in taking a six-point Mountain West lead on second-place UNLV, which lost 2-1 at San José State, and clinching a spot in the four-team Mountain West Championship.
But just as much of the difference came with GCU junior defender Liam Harrington's two sliding breakups on prime goal-scoring opportunities for Utah Tech and a brilliant leg sweep by fifth-year goalkeeper Beltran Fernandez against another near-score.
GCU (9-5, 6-0 MW) nearly went the first half without scoring for the first time during its seven-match winning streak. But after only taking two shots in Sunday's first 44 minutes at GCU Stadium, the Lopes broke the scoreless tie with 30 seconds to spare until halftime on Gonçalinho's second goal of the season — both for 1-0, first-half leads against Utah Tech.
The series leading to the goal began with GCU defender Felix Oberwaditzer keeping possession near midfield off an attempted Utah Tech clear. The Lopes moved the ball from side to side before freshman winger Bradley De Jesus operated from the right sideline with a pass that split two Trail Blazers to senior midfielder Martin Luala.
Operating in open space, Luala turned upfield and drew a defender before recording his first assist of the season by centering the ball to Gonçalinho,who ripped a 22-yard, left-footed strike into the upper-left corner of the net. Gonçalinho used the same foot from nearly the same spot on the field and scored in the same target area as the Portuguese player's Sept. 30 goal at Utah Tech.
"We like to have the ball and control the game," Gonçalinho said. "That play just realized what we like to do. But we need to get better. We have a lot of quality in the squad, so I think we can do better and we want to do better.
"We made some mistakes that we need to improve in the middle and in the front. Coach explained it well at halftime, and the second half was way better."
The field tilted with GCU attacks in the second half, when the Lopes added a goal and threatened repeatedly with 12 shots after halftime.
"You play one game against a certain shape and then you go into the next game and it takes you a little bit to readjust to their shape," said GCU head coach Jamie Davies, whose team won 3-1 in the first meeting at Utah Tech on Sept. 30. "We'd prepared for what we saw on video. We just needed to probably position ourselves better to break their pressure and get around their pressure. Sometimes, we broke it and went backward and had to do it all over again. When you keep doing that, it invites the press. When we're breaking the press and going forward, we get in their half even more."
Harrington had made a sliding break-up on a potential Utah Tech 10-yard shot in the 25th minute and made a nearly identical defensive gem in the 47th minute. His early second-half play stopped Utah Tech foerward Seth Powder from taking a clean shot from even closer at 8 yards away from Fernandez.
"I'm just trying to put my body on the line and do my job for the team, blocking every shot, getting to every cross," said Harrington, the New York junior who teams on the back line with two freshmen, Oberwaditzer and Matas Jokubaitas. "It's my goal to keep it clean every game. It was a great team performance from everyone. As long as we do our job defending, go forward and hit long balls when we break through, we always have faith in our attack when we win the ball.
"Day in and day in practice, we (the back line) work hard and every game our connection grows stronger."
In the 54th minute, Fernandez protected the 1-0 lead when he outstretched his left left to deflect a run-through shot by Trail Blazers forward Vincenzo Jeanfreau.
That save started a sequence that resulted in a Lopez goal and 2-0 lead 19 seconds later.
Luala covered half the field with his dribble, passing three Utah Tech players on his way to a touch pass for Lopez on the right side of the box. Lopez took a beat to measure his defender's position and the goalkeeper's spot before popping a drive into the left side of the net for his fourth goal of the season.
"In that moment, we went straight through them," Davies said of the improved attack against Utah Tech's pressure. "We didn't allow them to recover."
GCU did not settle with a 2-0 lead, nearly scoring off a Harrington bicycle shot attempt, four quality shots from freshman forward Anim Godson, a Lopez chance that sailed high and junior forward Alan Hermitte using a rebound of freshman forward Rafael Coet's shot to put a shot on goal that was saved.
"College soccer is such a crazy game sometimes that 2-nil is the worst lead to have because if they score to go 2-1, it changes momentum," Davies said. "If you can go for a third, you go for it. Having possession is another form of defending, so we always want to be on it and keep the ball. We created more chances through that."
But zeroes on the other side of the halftime scoreboard in each of GCU's six consecutive conference wins also gives credit to the Lopes defense, exemplified in GCU's 2-0 home win against Utah Tech on Sunday night. The overall seven-match winning streak is tied for the nation's second longest to High Point's eight.
The box score shows that Lopes midfielders João Gonçalinho's and Jorge Lopez's goals were the difference in taking a six-point Mountain West lead on second-place UNLV, which lost 2-1 at San José State, and clinching a spot in the four-team Mountain West Championship.
But just as much of the difference came with GCU junior defender Liam Harrington's two sliding breakups on prime goal-scoring opportunities for Utah Tech and a brilliant leg sweep by fifth-year goalkeeper Beltran Fernandez against another near-score.
GCU (9-5, 6-0 MW) nearly went the first half without scoring for the first time during its seven-match winning streak. But after only taking two shots in Sunday's first 44 minutes at GCU Stadium, the Lopes broke the scoreless tie with 30 seconds to spare until halftime on Gonçalinho's second goal of the season — both for 1-0, first-half leads against Utah Tech.
The series leading to the goal began with GCU defender Felix Oberwaditzer keeping possession near midfield off an attempted Utah Tech clear. The Lopes moved the ball from side to side before freshman winger Bradley De Jesus operated from the right sideline with a pass that split two Trail Blazers to senior midfielder Martin Luala.
Operating in open space, Luala turned upfield and drew a defender before recording his first assist of the season by centering the ball to Gonçalinho,who ripped a 22-yard, left-footed strike into the upper-left corner of the net. Gonçalinho used the same foot from nearly the same spot on the field and scored in the same target area as the Portuguese player's Sept. 30 goal at Utah Tech."We like to have the ball and control the game," Gonçalinho said. "That play just realized what we like to do. But we need to get better. We have a lot of quality in the squad, so I think we can do better and we want to do better.
"We made some mistakes that we need to improve in the middle and in the front. Coach explained it well at halftime, and the second half was way better."
The field tilted with GCU attacks in the second half, when the Lopes added a goal and threatened repeatedly with 12 shots after halftime.
"You play one game against a certain shape and then you go into the next game and it takes you a little bit to readjust to their shape," said GCU head coach Jamie Davies, whose team won 3-1 in the first meeting at Utah Tech on Sept. 30. "We'd prepared for what we saw on video. We just needed to probably position ourselves better to break their pressure and get around their pressure. Sometimes, we broke it and went backward and had to do it all over again. When you keep doing that, it invites the press. When we're breaking the press and going forward, we get in their half even more."
Harrington had made a sliding break-up on a potential Utah Tech 10-yard shot in the 25th minute and made a nearly identical defensive gem in the 47th minute. His early second-half play stopped Utah Tech foerward Seth Powder from taking a clean shot from even closer at 8 yards away from Fernandez."I'm just trying to put my body on the line and do my job for the team, blocking every shot, getting to every cross," said Harrington, the New York junior who teams on the back line with two freshmen, Oberwaditzer and Matas Jokubaitas. "It's my goal to keep it clean every game. It was a great team performance from everyone. As long as we do our job defending, go forward and hit long balls when we break through, we always have faith in our attack when we win the ball.
"Day in and day in practice, we (the back line) work hard and every game our connection grows stronger."
In the 54th minute, Fernandez protected the 1-0 lead when he outstretched his left left to deflect a run-through shot by Trail Blazers forward Vincenzo Jeanfreau.
That save started a sequence that resulted in a Lopez goal and 2-0 lead 19 seconds later.Luala covered half the field with his dribble, passing three Utah Tech players on his way to a touch pass for Lopez on the right side of the box. Lopez took a beat to measure his defender's position and the goalkeeper's spot before popping a drive into the left side of the net for his fourth goal of the season.
"In that moment, we went straight through them," Davies said of the improved attack against Utah Tech's pressure. "We didn't allow them to recover."
GCU did not settle with a 2-0 lead, nearly scoring off a Harrington bicycle shot attempt, four quality shots from freshman forward Anim Godson, a Lopez chance that sailed high and junior forward Alan Hermitte using a rebound of freshman forward Rafael Coet's shot to put a shot on goal that was saved.
"College soccer is such a crazy game sometimes that 2-nil is the worst lead to have because if they score to go 2-1, it changes momentum," Davies said. "If you can go for a third, you go for it. Having possession is another form of defending, so we always want to be on it and keep the ball. We created more chances through that."
João beats the buzzer! 🚨 ⚽️ A late first half goal puts the Lopes up 1-0. https://t.co/PZiVXDvQA5
— GCU Men's Soccer (@GCU_MSoccer) October 19, 2026
O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! 🫡 Jorge Lopez scores for the third straight game and the Lopes lead 2-0!! https://t.co/B63aqRpYyG
— GCU Men's Soccer (@GCU_MSoccer) October 19, 2026
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Soccer
D
/ Men's Soccer
GK
/ Men's Soccer
D
/ Men's Soccer
F
/ Men's Soccer
M
/ Men's Soccer
M
/ Men's Soccer
D
/ Men's SoccerTeam Stats
UTU
GCU
Goals
0
2
Shots
8
16
Shots on Goal
1
9
Saves
7
1
Corners
2
5
Fouls
12
11
Scoring Plays
João Gonçalinho (2)
Assisted By: Bradley De Jesus , Martin Luala
GOAL by GCU Gonçalinho, João Assist by De Jesus, Bradley and Luala, Martin.
44:33
Jorge Lopez (4)
Assisted By: Martin Luala
GOAL by GCU Lopez, Jorge Assist by Luala, Martin.
53:34
Game Leaders
mid
Shots
3
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
mid
Shots
0
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
2
Shots
0
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Sunday, October 18
Sunday, October 18
Sunday, October 18
Sunday, October 18