A Senior Night success.
 
But did they ever have to work for it.
 
After emotionally honoring their eight impending graduating players, then being forced to delay the game start for nearly 45 minutes to allow the game's referees to arrive, the Grand Canyon University Women's Hockey team acted like none of it was an obstacle, withstanding 41 shots on goal from the University of Colorado to shut out the Buffaloes, 2-0, Saturday night at AZ Ice Arcadia in Phoenix. The win salvaged a split of the Lopes' final home series of the season after dropping Game 1 to the Buffs Friday night, 6-2. It also tagged CU (15-5 overall, 10-2 WWCHL) with its first loss in Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League play since before Thanksgiving. It also provided GCU with its 10^th conference win – the first time in the program's nine-year history that it's enjoyed double-digit wins in WWCHL play.

Friday: Colorado 6, GCU 2

The Buffs weren't flashy, just fundamentally sound in dispatching the Lopes in Game 1. CU's frontliners of Mia Fascelli, Rowan Nasty, Ella Hairston and Amanda Wallace kept the Lopes' defense moving, each scoring at least two points on the evening. Fiscelli scored the first Buffs' goal, then assisted on their second score right before the end of the first period to give CU a 2-0 edge. Then Hairston set up Nasty for a score seven minutes into the 2^nd before Reese Gingrich finally got the Lopes on the board (on Jenna Sorenson's 8^th assist of the year). The Lopes would get no closer, though, as Fiscelli, Hairston and Amelia Sowers gave Colorado a five-goal edge early in the 3^rd period. Gingrich ended the night's scoring with her team-leading 22^nd goal of the campaign.

Saturday: GCU 2, Colorado 0
 
Stat-wise, the offensive numbers weren't that much different – sans one major component. Like Friday, CU outshot the Lopes by a wide margin, but the difference was that the Lopes' goalie combination of Hannah Schneidmiller and Olivia Cronin (each played half the game) had no plans to lose on their final night between the pipes at AZ Ice Arcadia. The Buffs fired nearly half of their 41 shots on goal at Schneidmiller in the first period, but the native of Peoria, Arizona, rejected everything. That allowed the Lopes to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission – courtesy of two fellow seniors:  Elaine Richardson's goal four minutes into the game (on GCU's first shot attempt of the night), and Rory Arteaga's score with two minutes left in the frame. From there, the GCU defense continued to watch the Buffaloes' frustration level rise as Cronin headed off 12 CU shots in the final 20 minutes to no avail, and helping Colorado go 0-for-5 in power play attempts (without being whistled for a single penalty themselves).
 
Before the game, Schneidmiller, Cronin, Richardson and Arteaga were joined on the red carpet on the west end of the rink by Gingrich, Riley Benson, Faith Horner and Taylor Klassen to be honored as all are scheduled to graduate from GCU this coming April.

That leaves just one two-game series left on the regular season schedule for the Lopes (12-14 overall, 10-4 WWCHL), who head to Salt Lake City, Utah to end the regular season against the University of Utah this Friday and Saturday, February 14 and 15. Then the Lopes come back to the Phoenix area to host the WWCHL Playoffs at AZ Ice Gilbert February 21 through 23. Teams and schedules will be announced next week on the GCU Club Sports website.