Grand Canyon christened GCU Stadium with a 4-2 victory over UCF in men’s soccer in front of 6,402 fans, the largest crowd to ever watch a college soccer game in the state of Arizona.
Khadim Seye scored twice, and Damian German and Niki Jackson added goals for the Lopes.
“I think it’s an amazing feeling,” German, a Phoenix area product, said.”Walking out of the tunnel has to be one of the greatest feelings I’ve had. You were inside the tunnel and you could hear the crowd just roaring. I got a little nervous, but once I stepped on thefield and saw all the fans were supporting GCU, it was one of the greatest feelings.”
It took only four minutes for German to open the scoring on a deflected shot.
“Youcouldn’t have written a better script,” GCU head coach Schellas Hyndman said. “It’s the first goal scored on this field. By a boy that’s right here from this neighborhood. It’s a fantasticstoryline.”
Hyndman, the longtime SMU men’s coach and later FC Dallas head coach, came to Grand Canyon in 2015. The soccer stadium is part of the moves the school made to boost itsathletic programs as part of the transition to NCAA Division I athletics.