ABILENE – Abilene Christian faces two tough opponents in two must-win games this week with Grand Canyon visiting at 7 p.m. on Thursday and California Baptist in the regular season finale at noon on Sunday.
ACU is in seventh in the current standings with a potential for 12 conference points if they win both games this week. The top six teams advance to the WAC Tournament in California.
A loss last week to Southern Utah gives SUU the head-to-head tiebreaker on the Wildcats. ACU has to now win both games this week and hope SUU gets no wins and no more than one tie when they play at Seattle and Utah Valley this week.
ACU Storylines
BIG ORDER: Making the conference tournament will require the Wildcats to do something they haven't done before – beat Grand Canyon and California Baptist. The Cats are a combined 0-1-1 in those young rivalries.
THORNY: Chayse Thorn leads the WAC and is seventh nationally with five game-winning goals this season. She also leads the WAC and is sixth in shot accuracy at .683. Thorn had 13 goals this season.
TAYLOR MADE: Taylor Denn leads the team with three assists this season and also has four goals for 11 points.
MULTI-PRONGED ATTACK: Eight Wildcats have scored goals this season. In addition to
Chayse Thorn's 13 and Denn's four,
Peyton Hill and
Amelia Leggett have three each and
Jordan Michie has two.
Georgia Guenther,
Jillian Beck and
Hannah Vetromile have one each.
HELP IS HERE: A dozen Cats have assists for ACU this season, led by Denn with three.
Chayse Thorn,
Peyton Hill,
McCarly Holloman,
Lox Neves and
Jazilyn Torres have two each.
ROSS IN GOAL: Lili Ross carries a 2.35 GAA this season with 34 saves.
THE D: ACU has been strong on the back line this season, allowing 4.9 shots on goal per game. Against the league, the Wildcats have limited opponents to 4.6 good looks per contest.
History With GCU
GCU leads the series 1-0
Last meeting: GCU 4, ACU 2, in Phoenix in 2022
Scouting the Lopes
- Grand Canyon is 10-4-3 overall and 4-1-2 in the league after beating UTRGV 5-0 and Stephen F. Austin 8-0 last week.
- Gianna Gourley leads the league with 3.29 points per game this season. She leads the Lopes with 18 goals.
- Leah Pirro has 12 assists this season and leads the WAC in that category.
- DeAira Jackson has a 0.94 goals-against average and 50 saves in goal for GCU.
History with CBU
The series is tied at 0-0-1
Last meeting: 0-0 tie in Phoenix last season.
Scouting the Lancers
- California Baptist is 9-1-6 this season and 4-0-3 in the WAC after wins against UTRGV and SFA last week.
- Kaylee Hauck leads the Lancers with seven goals and also has three assists.
- McKenna Ray leads the team with five assists.
- Noa Schumacher leads the WAC with seven shutouts in goal this season.
