Before most Gilbert residents got out of bed this weekend, Haley Gray and Abigail Brigg proved that a very early alarm was no big deal to them.
 
Shuttled to 6:15AM time slots for the weekend series due to the recent storm damage at its home ice of AZ Ice Arcadia, the two Grand Canyon University Women's Hockey freshmen showed few ill effects of the pre-dawn puck drop by each registering their first career "hat tricks' as the Lopes throttled the University of Denver, 10-0, Saturday morning and 8-1 Sunday morning at AZ Ice Gilbert. The wins extended the Lopes' winning streak in their series with the Pioneers to 14 games and propelled them to sole possession of first place in the Western Women's College Hockey League.

Saturday: GCU 10, Denver 0

"Coming up for air" was something the Pioneers were never given a chance to do Saturday morning, since the Lopes fired an unheard-of 74 shots at DU goalie Lindsey Taylor. The Pioneers didn't help that cause early, since a Denver penalty three minutes gave the Lopes a chance to cash in on the player advantage, which Taylor Zahalka did on an assist from Natalya Hooey. Taylor held serve for a few more minutes until Brigg and Sophie Armit found the back of the net in the final eight minutes of the period to stake GCU to a 3-0 edge. That's when Gray got involved as the Minneapolis, Minnesota native benefited from passes from Zahalka and Bridget Graybill five minutes into the 2^nd period to score her first-ever college goal. After Ava Johnson added the 5^th GCU goal midway through the frame, Gray and Brooklyn Larsen punished DU with goals in the final minute of the frame, and the rout was on. The 3^rd period was Alyssa Vollmin's chance to shine, which she did by assisting on Graybill's goal with 13 minutes left, scoring her own 90 seconds later, then helping Gray celebrate her 'hat trick' with the assist to end the scoring with 6:28 left. Gray's fourth point of the morning came on an assist on Brigg's lone goal of the day, while Brigg and Vollmin each accounted for three points – all of which was more than enough to help Lopes' goalie Annika Olson earn her second straight shutout in goal, stopping 17 shots.
 
Sunday: GCU 8, Denver 1
 
If it's possible, the Lopes were more defensive-oriented Sunday morning, but only if you consider that the Lopes' shots on goal dropped by 25 (they attempted 49), and they limited Denver to an amazing three shots on goal in each of the three periods. That meant that when the Lopes put up three scores in the first eight minutes of the game – thanks to Jennae Szucs in the 3^rd minute, and then Brigg scoring a pair within six seconds of each other – the game was essentially over. The only suspense after that was whether Brigg would score a 'hat trick' – which she did with 8:14 left in the game – and whether or not the Pioneers would get the zero off the scoreboard for the weekend – which they did seven minutes into the final frame. Along the way, Johnson, Gray, Hooey and Jenna Sorenson lit the lamp with a goal each, Brigg added a 4^th point with an assist, and Vollmin enjoyed a 'hat trick' of assists – all well before most church services had even begun Sunday morning.
 
The Lopes (5-1 overall, 4-0 WWCHL) remain hopeful that the repairs currently being performed at AZ Ice Arcadia will be completed by their next scheduled home game, which is the second half of another home-and-home doubleheader with the University of Arizona over Halloween weekend. The Lopes and Wildcats will first meet in Tucson on Friday, October 31 for a 7:30PM matchup before coming back to Phoenix for a 7PM clash at the Lopes' "home ice" Saturday, November 1.