Johannes delivers goal, assist to top Wyoming 2-1 in regular-season home finale
By: Paul Coro
The clock on Grand Canyon's season started ticking loudly Wednesday night when a Wyoming penalty kick goal tied the match with 19 minutes remaining in a must-win situation for GCU's postseason hopes.
That morning, the Lopes read the message, "THIS IS A PLAYOFF GAME," on the board of their GCU Stadium meal room. They responded like it was one in action and celebration, breathing fire like dragons down the stretch until GCU junior forward Amanda Adams' game-winning goal capped a majestic sequence that kept the Lopes season alive with a 2-1 victory.
GCU tied Wyoming for fifth place in the Mountain West and moved within three points (one win) of fourth-place New Mexico. The conference's top four regular-season finishers advance to the Mountain West Championship, and the Lopes now hold the head-to-head tiebreakers against the Cowgirls and Lobos with two regular-season matches remaining for all.
Should the Lopes advance to the MW Championship at GCU Stadium on Nov. 11-14, they know they can thrive in a high-pressure elimination match situation there after what they did Tuesday night to be 7-1-3 at home this season.
"I think we were angry," Cissell said of his team's reaction to Wyoming being awarded a 72nd-minute penalty kick that tied the match at 1-1. "The girls responded really well because they knew what was on the line. They had the stress and pressure. I'm excited that we're still in the mix. Tomorrow is going to feel a lot better in training when we're preparing for a game that really, really matters."
The Lopes (8-5-4, 4-3-1 MW) took four of their nine shots for the match in the next 7 1/2 minutes, cranking up their intensity to flip the possession and shot dominance Wyoming held in the first half. MW standings
Just after GCU senior goalkeeper Emma Knack made a one-on-one stop for her season-high 11th save, it was Knack sending a goal kick to nearly midfield to start the winning chain of touches. The Lopes pinballed it ahead with quick, advancing touches from freshman Makayla Gwynn and senior Ellie Johannes, who led Adams and trusted that she could outrun two Wyoming defenders ahead of her.
She was right. Even with a bum ankle, Adams sprinted and split the Cowgirls before finding a charging goalkeeper near the top right side of the 18-yard box. With full-speed control, Adams finessed the ball to get past the keeper and scored her third goal of the season with 3 1/2 minutes remaining.
"I just put my head down," Adams said of running past players with a 5-yard head start on her. "I saw the keeper coming and just put a touch by her and found the net. I was in so much pain this whole game that I put all my energy into that last play.
"That's my favorite goal to score. When a keeper comes off the line, to me that's the easiest defender to beat. I have to hit the shot. I work on it all the time. That's been my brand – speed and a finesse shot."
Cissell said the final 3 1/2 minutes felt like three hours, as GCU survived the last of a 29-9 shot advantage for Wyoming. The Lopes had only been outshot four times previously, all by five or fewer.
Once a final-minute Cowgirls header went wide, the Lopes celebrated what they hope is only their regular-season home finale because they kept themselves in the MW race with a Sunday match at first-place Colorado College and a Nov. 6 match at ninth-place UTEP. New Mexico plays the teams tied for second place, going to Hawai'i and getting Air Force at home.
"We were fighting to stay alive, so it felt like that," Adams said. "The win felt like that. The goal felt like that. It was an incredible moment.
"It was go time after they tied it. We had no choice. We got on our horse, and we worked for it."
The Lopes are 7-0 this season when they score multiple goals in a match, and the second-half pair of scores Wednesday were unforgettable.
But so was Knack's first-half performance in goal to give GCU the chance at a second-half bounce-back.
After making 119 saves in 18 matches last season, Knack entered Wednesday night 44 saves in the first 15 matches because of GCU's back line work that has this Lopes team on pace to set a scoring defense program record with 0.82 goals allowed per match.
Knack made one-fifth of her season's saves in one night, and seven of those 11 came in the first half when Wyoming outshot GCU 16-2 without scoring.
The native of Isanti, Minnesota, leaped and knocked a potential own-goal deflection with her outstretched right arm for her best work of the night. She dived from side to side and punched out some of Wyoming's 10 corner kicks.
"They were telling us this was a playoff game, and I've been in many playoff games," Knack said. "That really got me into the right mindset that we've got to be sharp. We've got to help our teammates out. It turned out to my flow, and I felt like I was in a flow in the first half. I'm glad I was able to show what I've been working on all season. It meant a lot."
Knack made her eighth and ninth saves early in the second half before possession control began to flip.
GCU took its first corner kick in the 55th minute, as the Lopes started to see halftime adjustments bear fruit.
"We do a very good job of coming together at halftime before the coaches walk in the locker room," Johannes said. "We tend to voice everything that we see on the field as players, and 99.9% of the time, the coaches come in an say the exact same thing. We're always on the same page. It's really beneficial when the players are all talking to each other and figuring it out."
It looked GCU had in the 58th minute, when sophomore Mai-Helen Nguyen Todnem lofted a long cross as if it had box-centered radar for the left side of Johannes' head. For the second season in a row, Johannes scored on a header, going across the grain to the right side of the net for a 1-0 lead.
"She gets more of the credit than I do," Johannes said of Nguyen Todnem's assist on her team-leading seventh goal. "That was a crazy ball. She it first time and genuinely was the best ball ever. On a dime."
But on a Wyoming corner kick in the 72nd minute, Johannes was issued a foul that gave a penalty kick to Wyoming's Raegan Richardson. The Queen Creek, Arizona, native scored for a 1-1 tie.
"We still had time, and we knew that," Johannes said. "It was like, 'Refocus, get another one.'
"That was a big maturity moment for us to come back and score a goal to win the game. I'm just so proud of us as a whole. The goal that was scored wasn't a fair goal, so our back line definitely had a shutout tonight."
Wyoming (11-5-1, 4-3-1 MW) had just lost by the same score, 2-1, at first-place Colorado College on Saturday. Like the Lobos, the Cowgirls finish the season with a pair of matches against the teams tied for second place, Hawai'i and Air Force. Both matches will be in Laramie.
With each match being worth no points (loss), one point (tie) or three points (win) to teams, the close-out scenarios remain aplenty to get GCU into the postseason. It could come down to watching the conference's final day of matches on Nov. 7 because the Lopes play their regular-season finale Nov. 6 at UTEP.
"When we get in the tournament, we'll know what a playoff game at home feels like," Cissell said.
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That morning, the Lopes read the message, "THIS IS A PLAYOFF GAME," on the board of their GCU Stadium meal room. They responded like it was one in action and celebration, breathing fire like dragons down the stretch until GCU junior forward Amanda Adams' game-winning goal capped a majestic sequence that kept the Lopes season alive with a 2-1 victory.
The Lopes are 7-0 this season when they score multiple goals in a match, and the second-half pair of scores Wednesday were unforgettable.
It looked GCU had in the 58th minute, when sophomore Mai-Helen Nguyen Todnem lofted a long cross as if it had box-centered radar for the left side of Johannes' head. For the second season in a row, Johannes scored on a header, going across the grain to the right side of the net for a 1-0 lead.
