Let the fog roll in. The Lopes are rolling on.
 
Battling through foggy conditions, the Grand Canyon University Men's Club Soccer team not only reached the national qualifying match for the first time ever but blazed its way through it, never trailing en route to a 2-1 win over St. Thomas University (Minnesota) Sunday morning at the 2024 National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association Region V Tournament in Omaha, Nebraska. The win capped off a regional weekend without a loss for the Lopes (10-2-2 overall, 6-0-1 SCSL), and punched the team's ticket to the NIRSA National Tournament for the first time in the program's nine-year history.
 
A journey to regionals had become commonplace for the Lopes, since GCU was making its third consecutive trip there (and 5^th overall), but extending the journey to the elimination bracket was always a 'close, but no cigar' result in the past. After going undefeated in the Southwest Collegiate Soccer League regular season standings so far, though, Lopes' Head Coach Damian Tule' sensed something special this time around, and his squad proved it in the Cornhusker State.
 
The 3-0 victory in the Lopes' opener over the University of Denver Friday afternoon set the tone, since it was a well-rounded victory highlighted by impressive goals by Keegan Acres and Kael Sandberg. The Lopes gave a similar all-around performance in their next match – a morning affair Saturday against the hometown team, Creighton University – but the teams stayed scoreless until the final two minutes of the contest when GCU senior Palmer Goins' header to the top left corner of the net gave the Lopes a 1-0 victory. Knowing they had to at least tie their final match Saturday afternoon against Kansas State University to advance to Sunday's final, the Lopes recovered from their only deficit of the tournament – a 1-0 Wildcats' lead at halftime – with a 2^nd-half neutralizer by Lopes' captain Joseph Butzke to send the match to penalty kicks and ensure GCU's place in the elimination bracket.
 
Neither waking up to a foggy Omaha morning nor a very early kickoff time (7AM Arizona time) deterred the Lopes on Sunday. The Lopes set the pace throughout the match but couldn't capitalize on their numerous 1^st-half scoring chances, and the teams went into the halftime locker room scoreless. The Lopes finally broke through early in the second half – courtesy of Brian Asaije's 5^th goal of the season – then GCU's Ansu Kanneh put the match out of reach with a goal minutes later. By the time the Tommies got on the board off a corner kick with just seconds to go, the Lopes had the win in hand.
 
"It's exciting to witness everything I dreamed of as a player being accomplished by my boys," said Tule'. "This group of guys are locked in and are deserving of everything they've earned so far. I am extremely proud and want to keep making history one game at a time."
 
GCU and the other two Region V national qualifier winners, the University of Colorado and the University of Nebraska, now head to Round Rock, Texas, for the 24-team 2024 NIRSA National Men's Soccer Championships beginning Thursday, November 21. The Lopes' tournament schedule (to be determined next week) will be posted on gcuclubsports.com.