Facing a four-game road swing in two cities over a 48-hour period didn't faze the Grand Canyon University Women's Hockey team, who swept both the University of Wyoming and University of Denver this past weekend. The Lopes opened the trip with a 14-1 shellacking of Wyoming Friday afternoon, then got a gift 1-0 win via forfeit when the Cowboys couldn't field enough healthy players for Friday night's second game. The Lopes then travelled the two-hour bus ride from Laramie to Denver, Colorado, where two 3^rd-period goals put them over the top in a 4-1 win over the Pioneers Saturday night, and another late score Sunday finished the trip with a 2-1 victory over DU. The sweep gave the Lopes much-needed momentum heading into their final home series of the regular season this coming weekend.

Friday: GCU 14, Wyoming 1
Friday: GCU 1, Wyoming 0 (F/FFT)

On the heels of a disappointing home series last weekend that saw 4^th-ranked Midland University dominate the puck throughout, the Lopes turned the tables in emphatic fashion against the Cowboys. GCU blitzed Wyoming from the outset, netting four 1^st-period goals from Natalya Hooey, Reese Gingrich, Ava Johnson and Faith Horner over 20 shots (and 68 for the game). The Lopes were even more accurate in the second period, with Gingrich scoring her 2^nd goal of the day, Jenna Sorenson, Sophie Armit and Savannah Song also lighting the lamp, and Lauren Mahoney scoring the fifth goal - her first of the season. That inspiration carried into the 3^rd as Mahoney picked up two more before the midway point of the period, and Gingrich joined Mahoney at the 'hat trick' plateau with the final goal of the day. Other than allowing a goal in the final minute of the 2^nd period, Lopes' goalie Olivia Cronin was stalwart with 18 saves.
 
Saturday: GCU 4, Denver 1
 
The bus ride must've slowed the Lopes' energy, since they managed just six shots on goal in the first 20 minutes. It didn't harm their accuracy, though, since Gingrich's fourth goal of the weekend staked the Lopes to a 1-0 lead eight minutes into the game, and Sorenson added what would prove to be the gamewinner just three minutes later. The 2-0 Lopes' lead after one period held up until GCU's Rory Arteaga put things out of reach midway through the 3^rd frame. DU's Chelsea Donovan made things interesting with the Pioneers' lone goal with 1:17 left, but Gingrich (who also had an assist in the game) did away with any possible suspense by scoring one more with two seconds left.  The Pioneers actually outshot the Lopes, 46-34, but Lopes' goalie Hannah Schneidmiller didn't allow that to affect the scoreboard, slapping away 45 shots.
 
Sunday: GCU 2, Denver 1
 
The weariness of the trip wasn't evident to start Sunday's game, since GCU managed 15 first-period shots, but both teams skated off the ice with a scoreless tie after the period. The Lopes' only deficit of the trip happened 74 seconds into the 2^nd frame when Denver's Avery Hakstol used a GCU penalty to cash in a power-play opportunity. The Pioneers' momentum nearly carried all the way to the end of the period – that is until Gingrich used a Riley Benson assist to knot the score up at 1-1 with 47 seconds left. Two Lopes' penalties early in the 3^rd period gave the Pioneers a chance to get back on top, but Cronin and the GCU backline wouldn't budge, allowing just seven third-period shots overall by DU. Once back at full strength, the Lopes capitalized, with both Gingrich and Hooey setting up Elaine Richardson for the gamewinner with just over six minutes left in regulation, then stoning the DU offense the rest of the way. Cronin registered 21 saves overall in notching her second win of the trip, while the Lopes turned the tables on DU, outshooting them, 50-22.
 
For the weekend, Gingrich amassed a whopping nine points (six goals, three assists) while Sorenson added two goals and three assists. 11 different Lopes scored goals, with Horner, Mahoney and Murphy all scoring their first goals of the season.
 
The Lopes (11-13 overall, 9-3 WWCHL) don't have a lot of time to rest and rejuvenate, since waiting in the wings is the University of Colorado, who will give GCU its final home weekend of the season this Friday and Saturday, February 7 and 8 at AZ Ice Arcadia. Puck drop Friday is a late one (9PM), then things will get emotional shortly before the 7PM Saturday puck drop as the Lopes will honor their four seniors before the game.