Lopes Pick Up 2-0 Road Win at Utah Valley
The Grand Canyon University women's soccer team (3-8-1) picked up their second-consecutive Western Athletic Conference (WAC) road victory Sunday, knocking off Utah Valley (8-5-2, 3-2-0), 2-0, at Clyde Field in Orem, Utah. The Antelopes, who shutout both of their weekend opponents, evened their league mark at 2-2-0 with Sunday's win.
"Today was a fantastic win for us and a total team effort," said head coach Stevie Gill. "At one point in time during the first half we ran out of subs due to injuries and we needed to put on our backup goalkeeper Daryl (Bradley) as a striker. It is nice to be on the other side of things as we have lost five or six games by a goal this season and felt as though we should have won. Utah Valley is a very good team and showed that again today."
Freshman keeper Blakely Fraasch notched her second shutout of the weekend Sunday, grabbing eight saves in goal.
Grand Canyon didn't waste any time getting on the board, as freshman Milla Benedetti struck in the second minute with a goal to give the Lopes an early 1-0 lead. Benedetti rebounded a Jessica Valadez shot that was saved by Utah Valley goalkeeper Jessica Duffin and buried it in the back of the net for her first-career goal. Valadez was credited with the assist on the goal—her first assist of the season.
Fraasch made three saves in the first 45 minutes of action to eliminate any scoring chances for the Wolverines.
The score remained 1-0 for much of the second half, until freshman Patricia Pape scored the first goal of her collegiate goal in the 86th minute to put Canyon up 2-0 and secure the win for GCU. Fellow freshman Ashly Hilfer assisted on the goal.
Benedetti finished with two shots in the matinee and Joanna Lagunas put one shot on goal to contribute to the Canyon offensive attack.
"Another shutout by our freshman goalkeeper Blakely and another two freshmen scored the goals, Milla and Patti," said Gill. "It certainly shows a promising future for our program having these first-year players seeing action and making an impact. The staff is very, very proud of the girls and the way they fought to the final whistle. It wasn't pretty, but a win is a win."
The Lopes will be back on the road again next weekend for a pair of conference games, playing at Kansas City on Friday and Chicago State on Sunday. Fans can visit www.gculopes.com to find more information on women's soccer season.
GCU 2, UVU 0
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