No. 2 Huskies Head To The Desert To Face Grand Canyon

SEATTLE – The No. 2 men’s soccer team heads to the southwest for a matchup against Grand Canyon University on Saturday, Sept. 24. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at GCU Stadium in Phoenix. Washington is now 6-0-1 on the season.
 
The Dawgs are coming off a 4-0 shutout win against Seattle U in the WAC/101 Cup Tuesday night. The victory now puts Washington at 6-1 against the Redhawks in WAC/101 Cup matchups.
 
Perhaps even more notable about Tuesday night’s game was the record number of fans in the stands. Last season, Washington set a single-game attendance record with 3,629 people in attendance. That record was smashed Tuesday night when 3,876 Seattle soccer fans packed Husky Soccer Stadium.
 
UW – GCU HISTORY
The Huskies lead the all-time series 2-0 against Grand Canyon. The last meeting came on Sept. 3, 2021, in Seattle where the Dawgs boasted a 2-0 win. The first all-time meeting was in May 2021 in the NCAA Tournament in Matthews, N.C.
 
GCU SCOUTING REPORT
Grand Canyon has faced a tough schedule thus far, facing ranked teams UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, and RV Virginia Tech. The Lopes came away with a 3-2 victory over the then-No.4 UCLA in Los Angeles and a 2-2 draw with the then-No. 18 UC Santa Barbara. Grand Canyon is currently 3-3-1 on the season.
 
GCU was picked to finish second in the WAC Preseason poll with senior forward Shaun Joash named Preseason Offensive Player of the Year.
 
Joash leads the team with three assists, while Alec LaBarge is the team leader with three goals. Both Joash and LaBarge have seven points on the season. This offseason, GCU welcomed 19 newcomers to the first class under first year head coach Mike Kraus.
 
INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION
Ilijah Paul is having a season for the record books. He won his second Pac-12 Player of the Week award, becoming the first Husky to win twice in a season since Blake Bodily in 2019. Paul also leads the nation with eight goals on the year and is second with 1.17 goals per game.

Lucas Meek and Chris Meyers are tied leading the league in assists per game (0.71), with Omar Grey ranking third in the Pac-12 (0.67).

 

Meek is second in the conference in points per game (1.86) behind Paul (2.43). Meek and Paul are dominating the conference in shot accuracy, with Paul leading with 0.684 and Meek ranking second with 0.529.

 

UP NEXT

The Huskies kick off conference play at San Diego State (Sept. 29)…