11 home games highlight Kiefer’s 2025 schedule

Head coach George Kiefer and his Grand Canyon men’s soccer program announced a16-game regular season schedule that starts at home Aug. 21.

The Lopes will compete in the WAC for the 13th consecutive season, when conference play will open with an Oct. 4 home match versus Utah Valley. Men’s soccer is one of three GCU sports (also beach volleyball and men’s swimming and diving) that are not sponsored by the Mountain West, which is GCU’s future conference.

GCU Stadium will play host to 11 regular-season games, including an Aug.16 exhibition versus Eastern Arizona. All Lopes home games will begin at 7 p.m.

The regular season begins Thursday, Aug. 21, against Jacksonville, followed by matches against Cleveland State (Aug. 25) and Sacramento State (Aug. 28).

GCU then hosts SMU on Sept. 4, a rematch of the 1-1 draw during the 2023 campaign when the Mustangs were ranked No. 2 in the nation. SMU finished the 2024 season ranked No. 5 in the country and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight.

Four days later, the Lopes conclude their five-match homestand with Santa Clara, a team that it played to a 1-1 draw last season on the road.

The first road tests of the season bring GCU west to California to take on Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 14 and 2024 NCAA Tournament team UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 21. The final two nonconference contests are back at GCU Stadium against CSUN (Sept. 26) and UT Rio Grande Valley (Sept. 30).

After the Oct. 4 WAC opener against Utah Valley, GCU will have home conference games with San Jose State on Oct.18, Utah Tech on Oct. 23 and UNLV on Nov. 1..

Road WAC matchups will be at San Diego State on Oct. 9, California Baptist on Oct. 12 and Air Force on Oct. 26.

The WAC Tournament will begin Nov. 9 in Riverside, California, with California Baptist playing host.