Grand Canyon Topples BYU

PROVO, Utah -- Tied at halftime with No. 3 Brigham Young, No. 8 Grand Canyon went on a 8-0 scoring binge to finish the game, helping the defending champions rock the Cougars, 12-4, on Friday night.

Last year, BYU (8-2) defeated Grand Canyon (5-3) during the regular season, which ended up being the Lopes only loss of the year on their way to the national championship.

With both teams locked at four goals apiece after the first 30 minutes, Joe Balestrerie opened the third quarter with a pair of goals to give the Lopes a lead it would never lose. Ryan McDonald and Cam Wengreniuk struck next to give GCU an 8-4 advantage after three quarters.

Any hopes of a BYU comeback were dashed early in the fourth quarter. Wengreniuk struck again followed by Drew Dziadyk to balloon the lead to 10-4. Ron Hamwey dominated faceoffs in the second stanza, allowing the Grand Canyon defense to blank the Cougars in the final 30 minutes.

GCU's next contest will come on April 1 when it hosts rival No. 11 Arizona State at 7 p.m. BYU will also enter the heart of its conference schedule, traveling to No. 4 Colorado on April 7.

(Photo by Tim Haslam)