On the heels of a heartbreaking loss Friday night, the Grand Canyon University Women's Hockey team earned an important split of their weekend series with archrival Arizona State University, running away in the third period Saturday night to win, 4-2, over the Sun Devils. The loss was ASU's first of the season in eight games, while the victory upped the Lopes' overall record of 3-4. It was the Lopes' final regular season appearance at ASU's soon-to-be-former home of Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe.
 
Friday:  ASU 4, GCU 3
 
It was an evening of comebacks for the Lopes, who gave up two Sun Devil goals within the first three minutes of the evening and had to play from behind most of the way. A power-play goal from GCU's Belle Lacombe got the Lopes on the board with eight minutes left in the first period, then another LaCombe goal in the first minute of the second frame got the Lopes even. The tie lasted less than four minutes, thanks to two Lopes' penalties within seconds of each other that put ASU on the 5-on-3 power play that they cashed in with Elle McKenna's second goal of the season. GCU's Reese Gingrich neutralized that goal just three minutes later on an unassisted score, and the 3-3 tie was where the teams stayed until the final minutes of the game. With 1:56 left, just seconds after the Lopes killed off their final penalty successfully, ASU's Logan Sutera slapped the gamewinner past GCU goalie Hannah Schneidmiller to dash the Lopes' final comeback hopes. Schneidmiller wound up with 43 saves on the night as ASU outshot the Lopes, 47-29.
 
Saturday:  GCU 4, ASU 2
 
Learning from their Friday night miscues, the Lopes didn't trail at all Saturday night – despite again being outshot by a wide margin. The Lopes had just four shots on goal in the first period, but LaCombe made the most of her opportunity, using a Gingrich assist pass to give the Lopes a 1-0 lead after one. McKenna tied the score early in the second period, but the Lopes took the momentum back with three minutes left in Period 2 as LaCombe set up Annabelle Koethe for the senior's second goal of 2022-23. The Lopes gave up the neutralizer with 15 minutes left in the third period, then Lopes' goalie Elsa Kurtz shut the ASU offense down for the night. That allowed the Lopes to break the 2-2 tie with freshman Taylor Klassen's first-ever college goal with 11 minutes remaining, and then with 3:38 left in regulation, Gingrich and Riley Benson set up GCU's Micah Summer with the insurance goal to clinch the split. Kurtz withstood another relentless ASU barrage to save 40 shots.
 
LaCombe led the Lopes' weekend offense with three goals and an assist, followed by Gingrich's two assists and a score, while Koethe and Summer each contributed a goal and an assist.
 
"We took less penalties on Saturday than Friday, stuck to our systems and shot the puck quicker the second night," Lopes' Head Coach Natalie Rossi said. "The girls really came together nicely this weekend and showed a new level."
 
The Lopes will finally return home to AZ Ice Arcadia next Friday and Saturday, November 18 and 19, when they'll host Colorado State University in a two-game set. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:15 PM on November 18, and 7 PM the next night.