Lopes earn road draw after late Irvine goal

Sunday, August 30

Irvine, Calif.

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

3-1-1, 0-0-0

UC Irvine

0-2-2, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Grand Canyon	1	0	1
UC Irvine	0	1	1

8/30/2026 5:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

GCU's Rubano cashes in for 3rd goal in 5 matches

By: Braden Dohrmann

IRVINE, Calif. – Dominating defensively for 85 minutes does not always reflect the way it should on the scoreboard in soccer, which can swing on a dime unlike any other sport.

With just two shots on goal allowed through through 85 minutes on Sunday, an 86th-minute, match-tying banger from UC Irvine took the wind out of GCU's sails for what was looking like the Lopes' fourth win and fourth shutout of the season.

Grand Canyon (3-1-1) held a 1-0 lead from the 30th minute until the 86th, scrapping out a gritty 1-1 road draw that still felt like a success and something to build on and learn from moving forward.

"Obviously, we felt we had done enough in the match to come away with a win," Lopes head coach Chris Cissell said. "Credit to UC Irvine and that absolute banger to tie the score.

"Ultimately, to come away with a draw on the road against a good team is not the end of the world. We will certainly learn from this."

After four home matches to open up the regular season, the Lopes played on the road for the first time Sunday and caught a warm-weather day in southern California, with the temperature sitting around 85 degrees for most of the match.

Warm weather was no bother to a GCU team that has trained and played in triple-digit temperatures for the past month and a half, and the Lopes proved that to be the case throughout the match.

In the seventh minute, GCU senior forward Ellie Johannes used her usual hustle abilities to anticipate and intercept a defender's reversal back to the keeper. Johannes was right in the middle of the passing lane back to UC Irvine's goalkeeper, taking the ball for a brief moment, before losing her footing and missing an opportunity for a one-on-one against Irvine's keeper near the top of the box.

Grand Canyon officially cashed in during the 30th minute, when senior midfielder Sophia Rubano was the benefactor of yet another scrum in the box off junior forward Amanda Adams' corner kick, tapping the ball into the net after it had dropped into her lap following deflections off a header, kicks and the crossbar.

Rubano, who leads the team with three goals, has scored all of her goals in similar fashion with a savvy to put herself in the right position at the right time consistently.

Sophomore Elle Stanley, GCU's starting right-center back, received the assist for her header off the initial cross. Stanley, who has three assists on the season, has been a valuable two-way player who is always in the mix on set pieces with her 5-foot-9 frame.

The 86th-minute goal by UCI's Chifumi Sasaki came after a poor clearance from the stout GCU back line. Sasaki collected the ball and just took two dribbles before hammering a laser into the top-right corner of the net, past the gloves of diving GCU keeper Emma Knack.

UC Irvine (0-2-2) scored just its second goal of the season, replicating its Aug. 12 late-game, tying goal against Utah Tech.

GCU sophomore Mai-Helen Nguyen Todnem played 58 minutes off the bench after starting the previous three matches, and freshman midfielder Lia D'Afonseca recorded her fourth 40-plus minute match off the bench this month.

Lopes junior forward Savannah Tafireyi logged a season-high 28 minutes in her second match back from injury.

GCU will turn the page from a successful week with a 7 p.m. Sunday home match vs. Long Beach State. It will mark the team's first GCU Stadium game since students returned to campus.