“Our team has complete control of the work ethic piece and I was happy with that,” said head coach Julie Woodward. “That’s one positive I can take away – that my team played hard tonight. We came out on the wrong end of things, but [I give] credit to Grand Canyon for their game plan. We had some opportunities we should have and could have finished earlier which would’ve changed the game a little bit. Moving forward, it gives us something to work on and a chance to improve.”
Stephanie Verdoia (Salt Lake City, Utah), leading the Redhawks with five shots, one on goal, had one of SU’s best opportunities to score in the 22nd minute, but Blakely Fraasch came up with a big save in goal.
Brianna Smallidge (Port Orchard, Wash.) came up with several key saves, five total in the match, but especially a header by Cassie Beckwith in the 73rd minute followed by two more GCU shots just over five minutes later.
The Lopes earned their first Western Athletic Conference win of the season, ending a 15-game regular season WAC winning streak for the Redhawks as well as a nation-leading 17-game overall league winning streak.
In goal, Fraasch made six saves in the win while Monterroso and Beckwith led GCU with four shots apiece.
The Redhawks look forward to Sunday, Oct. 12 as they host Bakersfield to finish the weekend at 11 a.m. The Seattle U men’s soccer team will host Grand Canyon directly after the women’s match, starting at 1:30 p.m. on the WAC Digital Network.
Stay tuned to all the latest on the team on GoSeattleU.com as well as on Facebook (Seattle U Athletics; Seattle U Women’s Soccer), Twitter (@su_athletics; @seattleuwsoc), and Instagram (su_redhawks; seattleuwsoc).