Courtesy of Grand Canyon Athletics/Paul Coro

PHOENIX, Ariz. - If it is Grand Canyon postseason men's soccer, there is a good chance the Lopes are playing for a conference tournament championship.

The Lopes' patient ball control and exquisite playmaking ousted Air Force 3-0 on Tuesday night at GCU Stadium to advance to the Mountain West Championship title match, the fifth conference tournament title match appearance in the program's 10 Division I postseasons.

GCU (12-5-2) will play No. 2 seed UNLV, a 2-0 semifinal winner against San José State, in the 7 p.m. championship at GCU Stadium. The Lopes logged a 2-1 home win and a 2-2 road tie against UNLV (11-5-3) this season. Saturday night's winner will earn the conference's automatic NCAA Tournament berth.

With a relentless attack, the Lopes tied Portland for the nation's second-longest unbeaten streak (12 behind SMU's 13) on the strength of senior midfielder Martin Luala's first career brace and their third shutout in the past seven matches.

The GCU defense did not even allow Air Force to take a shot until the second half. By then, the Lopes had earned a 1-0 lead and used its 27-5 shot advantage to add two second-half goals for their largest margin of victory since beating Oakland 7-2 on Sept. 3.

"If you don't stay aggressive, you invite pressure and then you'll spend large chunks defending," Lopes head coach Jamie Davies said. "I think you can go the opposite and try to have the ball more and maybe you control the game more." 

Outshooting Air Force 6-0 in the first half, the Lopes nearly scored two minutes before their first goal when freshman forward Anim Godson's header went wide left after freshman Bradley De Jesus chased down a ball at the goal line and centered for Godson.

GCU was in possession for the vast majority of the first half, but it was freshman forward Alhassan Alhassan's interception of a goal kick that started the Lopes' scoring. A series of touch passes from Alhassan to senior midfielder Jorge Lopez to freshman forward Rafael Coet shifted Air Force. That set up Coet to dribble left and draw defensive help from the middle, where he flicked the ball to Luala in open space centered above the box. Luala hit a 22-yard strike into the right side of the net for a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute.

"In conference tournament games, they're always going to be a little bit cagey to start because you go into that world of knockout football, and we probably could've been better with the ball and more composed with it, to be honest," Davies said. "It takes you 20 minutes to get into it, but getting the goal is huge and then the message is you've got to kill the game off. You've got to keep going. They did a good job of killing off the game in the second half with some brilliant goals and combination plays."

Air Force had its chance at an equalizer in the first minute of the second half, when Falcons freshman forward Xidane Espinoza gained control on a breakaway. GCU fifth-year goalkeeper Beltran Fernandez came to the top of the box to limit his shot-angle options, and stopped Espinoza's attempt with a diving save to his right.

Another tying Air Force threat came on a sliding kick in the box by sophomore forward Ben Brophy, who was stopped by Fernandez with help from GCU junior defender Liam Harrington near the goal.

"It's the difficult part of being a goalkeeper on such a good team," Fernandez said of not seeing a shot for a half. "Every chance they get, you have to be 100% locked in. Sometimes, it's difficult when your team has been on goal for 60 minutes. That's what we work on in practice, staying locked in for 90 minutes no matter where the ball is at. That's why I'm able to make those two saves and keep it clean."

GCU peppered Air Force with four consecutive shots before Lopez, named MW Co-Offensive Player of the Year earlier in the day, split two defenders toward the left edge of the 18-yard box to set up the second score with his 11th assist. He dribbled right and cut back with a pass to Luala, who was deeper in the box and used his left foot to turn and fire from 15 yards to the right side of the net for a 2-0 lead in the 60th minute.

"It's the group concept of supporting each other and being close to each other," Davies said of the Lopez-Luala combination. "You see them two connecting really well. Those guys are having a great season, and we want to continue it."

Luala, the Phoenix Washington High School graduate and former Phoenix College player, showed why he was the MLS SuperDraft's 28th overall pick last year. This season, the GCU coaches have given him more freedom to impact the game in more places. 

"I just kept doing what the coaches always wanted me to do, so I was in the right pockets at the right times," said Luala, whose previous goal this season came against Air Force on Oct. 14. "I finsihed my chances that I got, so I am happy for that.

"The work is not done. The work has just begun. We've just got do what we've got to do to win everything for the team and for the fans and for everybody that supports us."

After his 10th assist, Lopez created another goal when the captain dribbled into the left side of the box and went to Luala near the goal line, where Luala chipped back to Alhassan. After controlling the ball off his chest, Alhassan spun 180 degrees with the ball and touched the ball to his left to score his second goal in the 68th minute.

Alhassan, who missed nearly two months for injury, was emotional in his goal celebration during his third game back in the lineup.

"It's just so good to be back," Alhassan said. "It's been tough, but now I can play again, doing what I love. 

"Playing with them (Lopez and Luala) is amazing. We look up to them."

The back line of Harrington and freshmen Romain Donnez and Matus Jokubaitas helped Fernandez keep Air Force to two shots on goal, the Falcons' lowest total since Sept. 10, and two corner kicks, which matched their season low. 

"The defense put their strikers in difficult situations," Fernandez said. "It's amazing to watch what we do in every practice translating to every game — the way we play, the way we are coached. He (Davies) put his thoughts and his way of playing into us, and the way we execute is amazing. It's just fun to watch, like watching on TV." 

The Lopes' efforts were also bolstered by a large Havocs presence amid a GCU Stadium crowd of 2,006 fans, a presence that they would like to replicate for Saturday's 7 p.m. title match against UNLV.

"The Havocs were massive today, and I'd love to say thank you to them for their support and hope we can get them back out again on Saturday," Davies said. "If I was playing, that would give me an edge looking up and hearing the noise. They were fantastic."