Those that "said it couldn't be done" greatly underestimated Lopes' fans.

And the northern Arizona hockey fan base.

Completing a quest that was a couple of years in the making, the 14^th-ranked Grand Canyon University D1 Men's Hockey team not only realized the dream of playing a 'home' game at Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley, but packed the arena as they held off the charge of the University of Arizona in a 4-3 win Saturday night. The capacity crowd of 3792 fans was easily the largest home crowd in Lopes' Hockey's nine-year history. The win finished off an impressive two-game sweep by the Lopes, who ran away from the 16^th-ranked Wildcats in the 3^rd period Friday night to win, 5-0, at the Lopes' normal 'home ice' of AZ Ice Arcadia. The wins also moved the Lopes (5-4 overall, 4-1-1 WCHL) above the Wildcats (5-6 overall, 2-3-1 WCHL) into 5^th place in the Western Collegiate Hockey League standings by one point.

Saturday: GCU 4, Arizona 3

Not completely knowing what to expect from the festivities, the Lopes immediately got a feel for what was in store when their bus pulled up to the front of the arena to find entrances already blocked off two hours before puck drop. Lines soon formed around the side of the building for the box office, and the crowd didn't stop coming into the venue until midway through the first period. From pregame on, the crowd - comprised of Lopes' and Wildcats' fans, and a third major element - were united in decibels and excitement. That element was the largest fan contingent, an overwhelming batch of longtime rabid hockey fans from the Quad City area (a 40-mile stretch encompassing the towns of Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley and Dewey/Humboldt) that have long-suffered since their beloved minor league team, the Arizona Sundogs, ceased operations in 2014 after a nine-year run in the area. The Lopes paid homage to the old team by wearing a special Sundogs' patch on their jerseys, then putting the shirts up for bid in an in-game charity silent auction.
 

Even with all of that, an entertaining light show and a on-ice tire race during intermission, there was still a game to play. Those that were still standing outside in line at game time missed out on half the game's offense, since three goals were scored in the game's first six minutes – all within a minute of each other. The Lopes used UA's first penalty of the night against them with a Gavin Uckele power-play goal – only to watch the 'Cats take the ensuing faceoff and race to the other end of the rink for a tying goal from Nicholas Chiocca 14 seconds later. Undeterred, the Lopes owned the next faceoff and Gabe Tritschler only let 45 more seconds elapse before giving the Lopes the lead back.


 

For the rest of the game, the two teams were at a stalemate when at full strength, letting penalties help dictate the outcome. The final 54 minutes of the game saw just seven infractions combined, but more than half of those helped the puck find the net. A UA cross-check helped GCU's Ben Oakland stake the Lopes to a 3-1 lead after the first period. A Lopes' penalty midway through the 2^nd for having too many men on the ice helped UA's Justin Hughes bring the 'Cats' deficit back to a single goal. GCU's interference penalty in the final three minutes of the 2^nd helped the Wildcats get even. Finally, an Arizona elbowing penalty in the final 90 seconds of the frame led to Jack Thomas setting up Oakland for his second goal of the night to give the Lopes a 4-3 edge after two.

Suddenly… no penalties, no offense. The squads managed just 16 shots on goal combined in the final period, and anything close to the net was swatted away or gloved by GCU's Dmytro Kubrytskyi and Arizona's Hadyn Gould. Even when the 'Cats cleared the goalie for the game's final 90 seconds, the Lopes' defense kept the puck closer to center ice than their own net.

When the fans erupted in a unified voice at the final horn in appreciation of the two teams' efforts, even the disappointed Wildcats' players had smiles on their faces about being part of the spectacle, and the Lopes were ecstatic for the victory – on and off the ice.

"We had full confidence in the potential of holding this game in Prescott Valley, but it turned out to be even better than we ever imagined," said Lopes' Head Coach Danny Roy. "The crowd was so loud and glued to their seats for the entire game. We couldn't have asked for a better experience for our athletes."

Oakland's two goals paced GCU, while senior Cam Neaylon had a goal and an assist and Colton Gerken pitched in a pair of assists. Hughes and Riley Ruh each had a goal and an assist in UA's effort.

Friday: GCU 5, Arizona 0

The night before at AZ Ice Arcadia, checking the game stats after two periods wouldn't have led anyone to believe that the final score was inevitable. The shots on goal totals were nearly dead-even throughout the first 40 minutes, the teams had committed just two penalties each, and neither team seemed to gain control of the game's tempo for more than a couple of minutes at a time. The differences in the first two frames were "right place at the right time" goals by GCU's Owen Hanson four minutes into the game and Caden Henrikson's first goal of the season with six minutes left in the second. The game turned on what should've turned out to be GCU's downfall, since the Wildcats spent most of the first eight minutes of the 3^rd on the power play. Braden Husby changed all that when the Lopes' senior snuck behind the UA backline with the puck and beat Wildcats' goalie T.J. DeMeulenaere for a shorthanded breakaway goal. The Wildcats were never the same after that, going 0-for-5 on power plays in the final period while giving up a power-play goal to Oakland with five minutes left and a 4-on-4 even-strength goal to Tyler Huffer (the first of his career) in the game's waning moments. Uckele and teammate Hunter Schmitz had two assists each in the win, while Kubrytskyi stopped all 43 UA shots in recording his first career shutout.

With there only being a regular season champion, we can't afford to give away points, and this weekend, we were able to grab 6 points from them," said Roy. "These were two big conference wins for us. The goal now will be to get another sweep in their building in January."

While the two teams now circle the dates of January 10 and 11 in Tucson for the rematches, the Lopes' attentions now turn to the road, since they will head to San Diego State University and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas for WCHL two-game sets over the next three weekends before finishing off the fall half of their season at AZ Ice Arcadia on Friday and Saturday, December 13 and 14 against none other than the team that ended their run at last year's national tournament, eventual national champ Minot State University. GCU students get in FREE with their student ID, and game tickets are available on the GCU Club Sports website. Puck drop both nights is scheduled for 7PM, and the Lopes will not just be seeking revenge for last April's loss but also the two Minot State wins earlier this month in North Dakota.