So much for the effects of getting shut out themselves.
 
Bouncing back from a loss a week ago to 5^th-ranked St. Mary's College of California, the 15^th-ranked Grand Canyon University Men's Rugby team found the try zone a whopping 10 times in the first half alone en route to a 94-17 drubbing of archrival Arizona State University Saturday at the GCU Practice Soccer Field on the GCU campus. The win edged the Lopes' overall D1A Rugby record above the .500 mark at 3-2 with two matches left to play in GCU's current four-match homestand.
 
Whatever ground the Lopes saw in the first 40 minutes, they took. Jackson Gray was the first to find the try zone just a few minutes into the match, and that started a parade of successful Lopes' dashes for scores. By the time the teams broke for halftime, Gray and GCU senior Marcus Terzoli had each scored twice, with six other Lopes touching down in the zone along with them. The Sun Devils spoiled the shutout after halftime with three tries of their own, but the Lopes still extended the overall margin of victory with 2^nd-half tries from fellow senior Dylan Mercer and Lopes' newcomers Sammy Siaki, Garren White and Cooper Suess.
 
Lopes' Head Coach Sean O'Leary certainly was gratified by the final tally but was still a bit conflicted between what the scoreboard looked like and the overall effort.
 
"Obviously, I was happy with the scoreline but not completely happy with the performance," said O'Leary. "We did a lot of individual stuff and lacked intensity and passion as a whole. This coming weekend's test will show what confidence we gained by this win."
 
The Lopes' kicking game was stellar, with the combination of Terzoli, Luke Neely and Aidan Castanon converting a dozen two-point conversions in 14 attempts.
 
The celebration of the win over their rivals won't last long, since the Lopes have another perennial juggernaut – undefeated (and 7^th-ranked) Brigham Young University – heading to Phoenix Saturday for the teams' first showdown in three years. The Lopes and Cougars will square off at the GCU Practice Soccer Field at noon this Saturday, January 24, and admission is FREE.