A one-of-a-kind opportunity over two days.

And valuable lessons learned on Day 1.

On the heels of the program's first-ever American Collegiate Hockey Association National Tournament appearance a year ago, the Grand Canyon University D1 Men's Hockey team spent its first night on the ice in the 2024-25 season creating another piece of history: facing off against an NCAA program for the first time ever. By the end of the exhibition, the University of Alaska-Anchorage played like an NCAA squad to the tune of a 7-1 victory in front of a sellout crowd at Avis Alaska Sports Complex.

With a new-look starting lineup – featuring four players wearing Lopes' purple for the first time – the Lopes had no trouble showing they belonged early on. Behind returning goalie Dmytro Kubrytskyi in goal, the Lopes' defense made things difficult for the Seawolves' attack – despite UAA firing 15 first-period shots on goal. Kubrytskyi was flawless until 11 minutes in when a scrum in front of the net gave UAA's Alex Gomez an opening, and he capitalized to give the Seawolves a 1-0 edge. Things got chippy towards the latter stages of the period to put the Lopes at a man advantage, and they capitalized on their first power-play of the season when Anchorage native Hunter Schmitz fired a beautiful pass across the ice to Caden Henrikson, who flipped the puck past UAA goalie Greg Orosz to tie the game with seven minutes left. The Wolves took the lead back in the waning moments of the frame, once again getting physical around the net, allowing Seawolves' freshman Ethan Warrener to swoop in and score his first career goal.
 

The first 10 minutes of Period #2 was a Seawolves' clinic in NCAA-level speed to ensure there would be no opening-night upset. A breakaway goal by UAA senior Porter Schachle 48 seconds into the period. A pinpoint pass delivered in front of the GCU net during a Lopes' shift change for another goal six minutes later. A Schachle juke move around a Lopes' defender for a one-on-one score. And a fast flip off a shot blocked by GCU's second goalie of the night, Jacob DeMoranville, that just trickled out of his reach.

"Other than that stretch, we were really solid," said Schmitz. "They had the edge on us a bit, but we showed that we can compete with them, and that's what we wanted to prove to ourselves. We can stick with anyone if we have the right mentality."

Despite the final score, the mood and positive energy of the surprisingly large throng of Lopes' fans – a combination of GCU Alumni, two Global Credit Union contest winners and the families and friends of the six Alaska natives on the Lopes' squad – never wavered.

The Lopes' coaches and players were more than happy to breathe in the good vibes.

"It was very special to say the least, since my grandfather used to run the clock at these games," said Schmitz. "I used to come with him to every single one of the games growing up, and I was telling (fellow Alaskan and Lopes' senior) Jacob Cummings during the game that being on the other side of that tonight was really cool."

The Lopes' NCAA weekend finishes off Saturday night a few hours north in Fairbanks, Alaska – home of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks. The second exhibition matchup in as many days will drop the puck at The Big Dipper Arena in Fairbanks at 8PM Arizona time. The game will be streamed by FloSports.