In a weekend that saw them outscore their opponents by a collective 28-6 margin, the GCU Women's Hockey team won three of four home games this past weekend. They went a perfect 3-0 at their home ice of AZ Ice Arcadia, thrashing the United States Air Force Academy twice, 15-1 and 6-0, and coming from behind to knock off Colorado State University, 4-1, Sunday night. The three wins were on the heels of a disappointing 4-3 overtime loss to CSU, 4-3, Friday night across town at AZ Ice Peoria.
 
"We learned that we have to do the small things right and really focus in while we're playing," said Lopes' Head Coach Natalie Rossi. "We can't let ourselves get distracted, and just think that we're better than the teams we're playing. We have to come out and work hard every single time we're on the ice."

Friday: Colorado State 4, GCU 3 (F/OT)

After having their two-game set with Colorado State called off in mid-November due to health and safety protocols, the Lopes and Rams scrambled to find available dates and venues to reschedule the series. As a result, while the Lopes' D1 Men's Hockey team was playing on the AZ Ice Arcadia surface Friday night, the women shifted to their old stomping grounds of AZ Ice Peoria in Glendale to host the game. At first, it was a happy reunion, since after the Lopes got a wake-up call 26 seconds into the matchup with a Michelle Harcrow goal for CSU, they took it to heart with goals by Belle LaCombe, Rory Arteaga and Annabelle Koethe over the game's next 13 minutes to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission. After that, though, the scoring opportunities dried up, which allowed Harcrow to get the Rams within one with a 2^nd-period score, and in the 3^rd, the Rams forced overtime with a Gabby Demorat goal with eight minutes remaining. The Lopes fired off just six shots in the 3^rd period, and never got a chance to shoot in extras, since Demorat and Harcrow combined to fire the gamewinner into the net just 33 seconds into the overtime period.

Koethe added an assist while scoring her 7^th goal of the year, and in only her third start between the pipes for GCU, freshman goalkeeper Olivia Cronin stopped 28 of 32 CSU shots.

Saturday: GCU 15, Air Force 1

The hangover of Friday's disappointment may have lingered into Saturday's game, since the Lopes struggled to find a rhythm in the first period against an undermanned Air Force team. GCU's Niamh O'Mahony finally broke the scoreless tie with four minutes left in the first on an assist from newcomer Jenna Sorenson. From there, the floodgates opened, with the Lopes scoring seven goals in each of the last two periods, and kept things balanced with 12 different Lopes finding the net on a whopping 75 shots on goal. The defense also prevented the Falcons from finding any offense, limiting AFA to just eight shots on goal, and not allowing a score until the final 38 seconds of play. While the 3^rd period was anticlimactic thanks to the lopsided score, Lopes' sophomore forward Elaine Richardson got her teammates cheering late when she recorded her first career 'hat trick', netting her third goal with 3:16 left.

Koethe added two goals and two assists, while both Reese Gingrich (who also scored a goal) and Grace Greene recorded three assists each.

Sunday: GCU 6, Air Force 0

The combination of fatigue and using different shifts that don't normally play together lessened the offensive output but kept the defensive intensity up. The Lopes allowed just six Falcon shots on goal this time, and Cronin stopped all six. Offensively, the Lopes again scored just a single goal in the first 20 minutes but exploded for four goals in an eleven-minute span in the second and third periods to put it out of reach. Once again, the balance was there with six different goal scorers for GCU, with Arteaga, Koethe, Gingrich and Micah Summer all contributing a goal and an assist each.

Sunday: GCU 4, Colorado State 1

A chance to show their coach what they learned from Friday's disappointment became tailor-made Sunday night, since the flow of the game played out similarly to Friday during the first two periods. Melz gave the Rams a 1-0 lead just 50 seconds into the second period, and then the Lopes' offense took over with goals from Arteaga, Taylor Klassen and Gingrich to give GCU another 3-1 edge after two. Unlike Friday, though, the GCU offense stayed consistent throughout the night with 38 shots on goal distributed evenly among the frames. That allowed the defense to stiffen, shutting down the Rams from there. Arteaga and Klassen each added an assist to lead the offense, and normal Lopes' starting goalie Hannah Schneidmiller exacted revenge on the Rams by shutting down all but one of their 24 shots on goal.

The Lopes' current homestand continues this coming weekend with a pair of games against the University of Minnesota at AZ Ice Arcadia. The Lopes will hold Senior Night festivities prior to the 5:30PM puck drop this Saturday, January 28, then will finish the series out at 12:30PM Sunday afternoon.