Speed kills.

Especially when it results in goals in rapid succession.

The Grand Canyon University D1 Men's Hockey team commenced its 2024-25 regular season in resounding fashion with a lopsided two-game sweep of San Diego State University this weekend at the Lopes' home ice, AZ Ice Arcadia. The Lopes used three different stretches of multiple goals scored within 90 seconds' time to top the Aztecs, 8-3, in Friday's season opener; then usurped that with an 11-0 rout on Saturday night. While it's the second straight season that the Lopes have opened the season 2-0, it's the first time since the Lopes ascended to the D1 level in 2019 that they've ever won their first two Western Collegiate Hockey League games.

Friday: GCU 8, San Diego State 3

Due to the historic opportunity to face off against two NCAA D1 Men's Hockey squads in exhibition games in Alaska two weeks ago, the Lopes were the final WCHL team to actually start their regular season, and the first 15 minutes of play Friday night showed it. The Aztecs (2-6 overall, 0-6 WCHL) fought off 16 GCU shots on goal in the first 20 minutes and kept the game scoreless until the Lopes' offensive potential came to fruition in powerful fashion. Lopes' senior Jacob Cummings and newcomer Nash Jacobsma set up fellow newcomer Colton Gerken with assist passes to give Gerken his first career goal with 14:21 left in the first period, then after the Lopes won the ensuing faceoff, Cummings and Jacobsma did the same thing for Lopes' freshman Ricky Nelson just eight seconds later. 2-0, Lopes, and the Aztecs were reeling. SDSU scored right before the end of the first period, but from there, it was a fast and furious GCU onslaught. Nelson's 2^nd goal came a little over two minutes into the 2^nd frame, fellow newcomer Tyler Misialek's first career goal came 90 seconds later, and his second goal hit the back of the net four minutes after that before Cummings closed out the 2^nd-period scoring with his first goal midway through the frame. The rapid-fire offense wasn't done, though. Within the first 47 seconds of the 3^rd period, GCU's Owen Hanson, SDSU's Brandon Grant and Cummings all lit the lamp before the offenses finally tired.

Cummings' four points (two goals, two assists) were complimented by three from Gerken (one goal, two assists), two goals each for Nelson and Misialek and two assists each for Jacobsma and Shawn Spring as the Lopes outshot the Aztecs, 50-18.

Saturday: GCU 11, San Diego State 0

Saturday's game was pretty for the Lopes… until it wasn't. The outcome wasn't in doubt from the end of the first period on after GCU outshot SDSU, 24-4, in the first 20 minutes, cashing in four of those shots courtesy of Misialek, Lopes' returner Hunter Schmitz and a pair of 'new Jacks', Jack Thomas and Jack Riley. The shutout was 6-0 after two periods on Riley's second goal and Caden Surchik's first career score. The third period was a Lopes' clinic as they outshot the Aztecs, 27-2, and scored five times in the first 13 minutes of the period. By the time the train horn sounded on goal #11, the San Diegans had had enough, and a skirmish ensued in front of the Aztecs' net that brought ten roughing penalties (one for every non-goalie on the ice), a cross-checking infraction (to SDSU's Sean Devaney on top of his roughing penalty), and all 10 were given misconduct penalties ending their nights. Throw in a two-man scrum at the final buzzer that resulted in two more ejections, and both the Lopes and Aztecs were ready to see SDSU's bus pull away from the rink.

Riley had two goals and an assist in his first game since transferring from Arizona State University this summer, Schmitz added a pair of goals himself, and adding two points apiece were Misialek, Surchik, Gerken and Thomas (a goal and an assist each) and Cameron Neaylon, who celebrated his birthday with a pair of assists, as did Braden Husby. The Lopes' lone newcomer this year in net, freshman goalie Adler Hoagland, held up his end of the bargain, stopping all 14 SDSU shots on goal in his first-ever college game.

The team's productive balance wasn't lost on the two animated capacity crowds nor the Lopes' nine-year head coach.

"It was great seeing the full depth of our roster and the number of new players on the scoresheet," said Lopes' Head Coach Danny Roy. "It will be important to be able to have four lines that can contribute offensively going into this stretch of tough games over these next few weeks."

The Lopes will now make up for lost time with three more home games over the next two weekends, beginning with a two-game set beginning this Friday, October 18, with the University of Utah at AZ Ice Arcadia. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:45PM, and it precedes GCU Women's Hockey's game against the Utes at 8:30PM that night.