Tyler Ferrari wasn't supposed to be in goal for the biggest match of the Grand Canyon University Men's Club Soccer season.
 
But with starting goalkeeper Riley Snyder sidelined by injury and the Lopes clinging to a one-goal lead in the final 30 seconds of Sunday's Aztec Cup final in San Diego, the sophomore goalie from Redding, California, made the save of the weekend.
 
Ferrari's late stop preserved a 2-1 win over Cal Poly and gave GCU's Purple team its first Aztec Cup championship in program history. The Lopes went 4-0-1 over five matches in three days, limiting their opponents to just a pair of goals, outshooting them, 52-23, and posting three shutouts to improve to 7-0-1 on the season.
 
"We're certainly not surprised by Tyler's performance at all," said Lopes' Head Coach Luke Pilarski. "He's always ready to go, and we know he can keep us in the game with some big moments. Riley played a great tournament but just kept getting hacked, so he had to sit out the final."
 
Games 1/2 (Friday): Pool Play: GCU 4, Long Beach State 1; GCU 0, Cal State San Marcos 0
 
The momentum of his four-goal performance in GCU's home opener two weeks earlier was still pumping through the veins of Lopes' sophomore Reeise Remmer on Friday. Long Beach State led, 1-0, at the half before Remmer got the weekend started with GCU's first score in the 44th minute to erase the Lopes' only deficit of the tournament. GCU freshman Eli Squire then struck twice in the span of about a minute before senior Makaha Pang added a fourth goal in the 68th minute. The Lopes' four goals matched the number of shots by Long Beach State the entire match.
 
Less than four hours later, Snyder and the GCU backline held Cal State San Marcos to just three shots in a 0-0 draw to close out the Lopes' action for Friday.
 
Game 3 (Saturday): Quarterfinals: GCU 3, Camp Pendleton FC 0
 
Despite a torrential downpour from Tropical Storm Rachel before the match, GCU's defense wasted little time topping its Friday performances by holding Camp Pendleton to just a pair of shots in Saturday morning's quarterfinal. That freed up the Lopes' offense to go to work in the 1st half. Lopes' junior Rylan Derry opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, an own goal four minutes later doubled the lead and senior Brennen Horvath made it 3-0 in the 38^th minute, making the last 40 minutes a formality.
 
Game 4 (Sunday): Semifinals: GCU 1, San Diego State 0
 
The Lopes had reached the final of this tournament only once – and that was nine years ago. Standing between them and a second championship match berth were the formidable hosts from San Diego State University. The two squads practically played dead-even, since each team had five corner kicks, the shots were nearly even, and the match was scoreless at halftime. The difference-makers? Derry, who delivered again for the Lopes with the match's only score in the 65^th minute; and Snyder, who made it stand for his third straight clean sheet to send the Lopes to the title match.
 
Game 5 (Sunday): Championship: GCU 2, Cal Poly 1
 
With Snyder nursing a hip injury, Ferrari took over in goal for the 2PM final against the team that prevented the Lopes from raising the trophy back in 2017: Cal Poly. Pang's shot in the 29^th minute gave GCU a 1-0 halftime lead, then Horvath added what would prove to be the game-winner in the 63rd minute. Cal Poly, which put up eight shots in the match – the most by any GCU opponent in the tournament – eventually cut the lead in half and pushed for the equalizer until Ferrari's stop in the final seconds sealed the championship.
 
"Playing five games in one weekend is really hard on the guys physically, but it achieves something we can't really copy otherwise: tons of meaningful team time," said Pilarski. "This weekend gave our guys a chance to learn and grow and ultimately increase team chemistry."
 
The Lopes return to UPSL Arizona South play this Sunday, October 18^th, at Kings FC Arizona in Glendale at 4:30PM. GCU then returns to Colter Field for the first time in nearly a month, hosting Kings FC on Saturday, October 24^th, and Yuma City FC on Sunday, October 25^th. Both matches kick off at 4PM on the GCU campus, and admission is FREE.