Bring on the rain, the Lopes still shine.
The Grand Canyon University Women's Rugby team fought through windy and muddy conditions to pick up right where they left off on Sunday, ending a two-week break in the schedule with a furious return to action in a 65-7 beating of Cal State University Northridge.
The game, played in the GCU Soccer Stadium, also served as the senior day for the team, allowing the team to honor two of their players, Amaya De La Cruz and Syanne Callier, in their last home game.
"I want to thank my teammates and my coaches for pushing me to be a better athlete and a better rugby player," said Collier prior to the match. "Also, I want to thank Coach Lindsey, Coach Kyle, and Coach Chris for being so patient with me over my time here on the team."
"I want to thank the Lord for giving me endless opportunities through rugby," said De La Cruz. "I also want to thank my coaches for being amazing mentors, coaches, and friends, and the entire GCU Rugby community."
The Lopes got on the board early and often in this one. Center Angel Lucero sliced through a mass of CSUN uniform five minutes in to score the first points of the match, and not even 30 seconds later Chloe Geryol ran in another try. Throughout the first half the crowd in the GCU Soccer Stadium saw three tries from Lucero, two from Geryol, two from Kloe Williams, and one each from Savonna McGlothan and Sofia Rico- none from the Matadors. GCU Senior Amaya De La Cruz added four two-point conversions in the half to make the score 53-0, and fellow senior Callier added a slew of huge hits and tackles to make the fans go crazy.
The second half was more of a grind, as the Matadors battled through injuries and exhaustion and the Lopes featured more of their reserves. 12 minutes passed before any scoring action when De La Cruz set up Geryol with timely lateral for Geryol's hat-trick try of the match. De La Cruz then took one in herself with just a minute left of regulation to put the final touches on her last regular-season home game of her career.
CSUN was able to score their first and only try of the match just prior to extra time expiring, sending the extra point kick through the uprights, and making our final score 65-7.
"We knew today would be an emotional game," said GCU Head Coach Lindsey Mahoney. "Our team continues to play for each other and back each other up on the field, and that helps us overcome some mistakes and play with such tenacity."
The Lopes will now take their four-game winning streak into a two-game California road trip, playing UC Santa Barbara on March 4 and UCLA on March 5 in their final regular season games of the season.
