Four years of existence. Three years of titles.

Never trailing in 144 minutes of action, the Grand Canyon University Roller team steamrolled its way to the Western Collegiate Roller Hockey League title with four straight wins at The Rinks in Corona, California. The Lopes never allowed an opponent to score more than three goals in any game, holding off both the University of Arizona (5-3) and Arizona State University (4-2) in their first two contests before catching stride and dominating in their last two games: a 7-2 win over Cal-State Fullerton and a 6-2 victory in the title matchup against ASU. It's the 3^rd straight WCRHL title for the Lopes in their four years of existence, and the 3^rd straight time GCU has run through the tournament without a loss.

Game 1 (Saturday): GCU 5, Arizona 3

If the rest of the field needed a tone set, they got one from GCU's Cole Taylor, who took all of 26 seconds to get the Lopes off and rolling with a 1-0 lead. It didn't take long after that for things to get physical as seven penalties combined in the final seven minutes of the period led to power-play goals the rest of the way. The Wildcats tied the score midway through the period, but the Lopes used their man advantage to score goals within two minutes of each other from Zach Hoffman and Brydon Frisk (Taylor assisting on both). A pair of penalties on the Lopes with two minutes left allowed UA's Kyle Tinschert to bring the 'Cats within a goal by the end of the period (on only their 3^rd shot of the frame), then Arizona tied the score a minute into the 2^nd. From there, though, the UA offense was held in check, and while it was more difficult for the Lopes to score, they found ways with Lopes' Player/Coach Aydin Schwetz giving the Lopes the lead for good with two minutes left in the 2^nd, then Conner Daniel putting the game out of reach midway through the 3^rd.

Game 2 (Saturday): GCU 4, Arizona State 2

Since ASU's 7-5 win over the Lopes to begin the season in late October, GCU had won the next three meetings, outscoring the Sun Devils by a combined score of 26-9. Saturday's 5^th matchup between the two schools was much more "close to the vest", with the goalies, GCU's Michal Nabozny and ASU's Guido Pacheco, owning most of the evening. The scoreless tie lasted 90 seconds into the 2^nd period when Daniel set up Frisk for the tiebreaking goal, but ASU's Ryan Seder scored with three minutes left in the 2^nd period to send the game to the 3^rd period knotted up again. Once again, though, the 3^rd period was a lopsided one, with a shorthanded goal from Daniel breaking the tie midway through the period, then goals by Hoffman and Tyler Larson in an 11-second span late in the game ending the suspense about the outcome.

Game 3 (Saturday): GCU 7, Cal-State Fullerton 2

If the lone California team in the tournament had visions of a 'homecourt advantage', that notion was quickly washed away by the Lopes, who bombarded Fullerton with at least 15 shots on goal in each period, and outshooting them for the game, 47-17. It was also a full 28 minutes before CSUF found the back of the Lopes' net, and by that time, the Lopes held a 6-0 lead – much in part to Larson, who scored a pair and assisted on the other four. Fullerton finally scored four minutes into the final period, only to have Taylor respond with an unassisted goal 54 seconds later to complete the 'hat trick'.
Game 4 (Sunday): GCU 6, Arizona State 2

It was some eerie déjà vu for the Devils: close for two periods; a runaway after that. The teams traded scores for the first two periods, with Taylor and Frisk scoring power-play goals in the first 12 minutes to stake the Lopes to a 2-1 edge; then after ASU's Luke Parker knotted up the game at 2-2 with four minutes left in the 2^nd period, Taylor gave GCU the lead back 90 seconds later. ASU's cardinal sin in the final period was getting too aggressive, with three penalties midway through the frame. That opened the door for GCU, whose power-play goals by Frisk, Daniel and Josh Little within a two-minute span sealed the win and the title.

Taylor's weekend finished with six goals and a whopping eight assists, while Hoffman pitched in a trio of scores to go along with four assists. Nabozny saw every minute in net for GCU, registering 61 saves and even recording an assist on a Hoffman empty-netter against ASU Saturday.

With the regular season now in the books, the Lopes (20-3 overall, 13-2 WCRHL) now have a full month to prepare for the 2026 National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships, which will be held in Springfield, Missouri beginning April 15. The Lopes will head to Missouri seeking their 3^rd straight national championship game appearance. The Lopes won the national title over Lindenwood University in 2024.