Two weeks to meet, practice and prepare?
 
That's all they needed.
 
Overcoming a sluggish start in its 2025-26 regular season opener, the Grand Canyon University Women's Club Soccer Purple's offense awakened in the second half, battling from behind in the final 12 minutes of play to defeat archrival Arizona State University Maroon, 2-1, Saturday night in Tempe. The comeback sealed win No. 1 for new Lopes' Head Coach Alex Martins, who took over the reins of the program last month.
 
"This team believed in each play that the next one could be a goal," said Martins. "They just knew that even if the (opposing) goalkeeper saved this one, or if our last shot went wide, that our next press or attack could be the gamewinner."
 
It wasn't completely unexpected that the new-look Lopes started out slowly, with only two weeks under their collective belts to introduce themselves to their new coaching staff (and to each other), learn some techniques in practice, then put the plans into action. The Lopes ended the first 40 minutes trailing the Sun Devils, 1-0, but seemed unphased during the halftime pep talk.
 
"We played very well, working hard on defense and in transitions all game long," said Martins. "We had lots of chances on offense, but most of them were without a huge threat of scoring."
 
Lopes' junior defender Kasi Amaral changed all that early in the second half, taking an assist pass from Averi Bass to fire a left-footed shot from the edge of the box into the back of the net to tie the match in the 53^rd minute. The Lopes maintained the intensity, allowing ASU few scoring opportunities the rest of the way. Finally in the 79^th minute, GCU's Ava Martinez set up Bass, who went "top shelf" with a goal in the top right corner of the net to seal the victory.
 
The win propels the Lopes into a showdown with another team that enjoyed a successful first weekend, ASU Gold (the Sun Devils' top team), who defeated GCU Team 3 on Friday night in Tempe. The Lopes and Devils will kick off GCU Purple's home season this Saturday, September 20 at Colter Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 8PM, and the match will be televised live by the Varsity Sports Network's YouTube channel.