It wasn't their home venue anymore, but they acted like it was.
 
Forced to revamp its home-and-home series with the University of Arizona to a two-game road trip due to the recent storm damage at its home ice of AZ Ice Arcadia, the Grand Canyon University Women's Hockey team rebounded from a disappointing 6-3 loss Friday night to shut out the Wildcats, 4-0, Sunday morning in Tucson. It was the first career shutout for Lopes' freshman goalie Annika Olson, and the win kept the Lopes above .500 (4-2 overall, 2-0 WWCHL) for the season.

Friday: Arizona 6, GCU 3

Two weeks' worth of rust from the team's opening sweep of the University of Wyoming showed in the first 20 minutes of the series. The Wildcats set the tone with 15 first-period shots, and wore down the Lopes' defense by the end of the frame. Jenna Sorenson's first goal of the season staked the Lopes to a 1-0 lead five minutes into the game, but UA's pressure earned them three goals in the final four minutes – two of them off the stick of the Wildcats' scoring leader, Lilly Howell. The Lopes cut the deficit in half midway through the 2^nd period on Elizabeth Ramsey's power-play score, but Howell came right back 90 seconds later to earn a 'hat trick' and a 4-2 Arizona lead after two periods. GCU freshman Jennae Szucs gave the Lopes another hope for a comeback six minutes into the final period with her second goal of the year, but once again, the Lopes' defense couldn't withstand another UA barrage (19 shots on goal in the last period) as Kenzie Carson scored her second goal of the night to put the game out of reach with five minutes left.
 
GCU's Natalya Hooey assisted on two of the three Lopes' scores (before leaving with a wrist injury), but the Wildcats' 42-26 shot advantage was too much to overcome.
 
Sunday: GCU 4, Arizona 0
 
The box score still dictated that this was a Lopes' home game, so GCU decided to show they felt the "comforts of home". The GCU defense learned from their Friday mistakes by not letting the Wildcats get into an offensive rhythm and not allowing more than nine Wildcat shots in any period. Both offenses showed a little of the effects of an unexpected 10AM Sunday morning puck drop (eight shots each in the first 20 minutes), but Aliyah Finch's first career goal eight minutes in gave the Lopes a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Ramsey's second goal of the weekend five minutes into the 2^nd period was the Lopes' only goal in the 2^nd, , but the relentless GCU offense battered UA goalie Olivia Sorlie for 28 shots in the final two frames. By the time Sorenson and Brooklyn Larsen found the back of the net in the final three minutes of the contest, Sorlie and the Wildcats were ready to go home.
 
Olson stopped all 24 shots she saw, and the Lopes' 36-24 shot advantage made the difference on the other end.
The early-morning game Sunday will be a warmup now for the Lopes' series this weekend with the University of Denver as fans will need to set their alarms. While the Lopes will get to stay in town to host the homestand, as the AZ Ice Arcadia repairs continue, the scene will shift to AZ Ice Gilbert (2305 East Knox Road in Gilbert), and the three-game set will be reduced to two due to scheduling conflicts (the Saturday night game is cancelled). The Lopes will host the Pioneers this Saturday and Sunday, October 11 and 12, and both puck drops are scheduled for 6:15AM.