IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine held onto an early lead for its first victory of 2016 downing visiting Grand Canyon, 1-0, Friday night in Anteater Stadium.
The goal came in the 24th minute after Mario Ortiz stole a ball near midfield. His sharp feed drove Luis Leon to the endline, and he would gather, cut, and shovel a ball into the six-yard box for a streaking Giovanni Godoy who volleyed it home for the 1-0 lead.
UCI (1-2) had little to boast about otherwise in the first half as Grand Canyon (1-1) had nine of the 11 total shots in the half including three on target.
GCU continued its attack with the first three shots of the second half, and another great chance that senior keeper Elliot Farmer snuffed out.
A free kick its own half was booted forward to Jose Rodriguez Nieblas. He corralled the ball near the endline and centered it, but Farmer dove and tipped it out of harm's way to keep the 'Lopes out of the net.
UCI found its touch down the tail end of the match owning a majority of the possession to secure the win and shutout, 1-0.
Both keepers stopped four shots on the evening as GCU ended up with a 14-5 shot advantage. UCI got clean sheets from its entire backline of Matthew Tilley, Jorge Lara, Thomas Janjigian, and Noah Gaines.
Godoy's goal was his first as an Anteater and third in his college career. Leon and Ortiz registered assists, the first of the season for the 'Eaters.
The foul count rose to 45 in the match between the squads which saw each side incur a pair of yellow cards.
The Anteaters will look to ride the momentum into another home match on Sunday as the club gets going against Florida Gulf Coast at 1:30 p.m. in the first half of a doubleheader with the women.
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