Courtesy of Grand Canyon Athletics/Nick Macdonald

Grand Canyon men's soccer keeps making history.

In its first ever season in the Mountain West Conference, GCU celebrated a 1-0 victory over UNLV in front of 2,000 plus fans to claim the conference championship its first ever season in the league.

The win gave the Lopes an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, the second straight season of winning a conference tournament after claiming the regular season title two weeks ago.

"It's amazing, to see all the fans and the emotions and to bring a community like this out for the match, you can feel the impact from them," said head coach Jamie Davies. "The boys worked so hard for this, through ups and downs, they put everything into it, and I am so happy for them."

Eight Grand Canyon home events took place from Monday, Nov. 9 to Saturday, No. 14, and the eighth win came at GCU Stadium with a packed crowd that saw a migration of GCU Havocs flood the Platform at halftime following a men's basketball victory. That home field advantage gave the Lopes a second half burst after a scoreless draw through the first 45 minutes of play.

Entering the night second in the nation in shots on goal per game and fourth in shots, the Lopes were held to four shots in the first half to UNLV's (11-6-3) three, with the closest call to a goal coming in the 23rd minute via Rebels' Nick Legendre. Fifth year goalkeeper Beltran Fernandez was out just enough for UNLV to take a chip shot attempt from 35 yards out. Fernandez turned back and saw the ball hit inside the cross bar and bounce directly to him.

That attempt was the closest UNLV would get the rest of the way, as halftime adjustments and a wave of Havocs swung the stadium momentum toward the Lopes.

A five-minute spree saw four Lopes' shots from the 53rd to 58th minute, two saved off junior Alan Hermitte attempts on the left side. The Lopes kept firing, seeing João Gonçalinho and Sabri Hanni shots nearly find the back of the net as UNLV goalkeeper Hugo Lemos made game saving stops to keep it 0-0.

As GCU kept peppering the goal, the stadium's pulse was ready to erupt.

In the 83rd minute, GCU's attack started from the back line as freshman Matas Jokubaitis sent a cross toward the right corner flag. Freshman Bradley De Jesus gave a one touch pass to freshman Rafael Coet, who without hesitating saw the open space he accommodated and fired a chip shot toward the far-right post. The ball floated high enough over Lemos and perfectly dropped into the net to give the Lopes a 1-0 advantage.

"Rafa has all the talent in the world," said Davies. "This whole team has goal scoring potential and has that special sauce to him. It takes one moment, and we found that moment."

As the crowd erupted, GCU had seven minutes to fend off any last-minute Rebel attacks. UNLV was only able to get one shot attempt for the remainder of the game, as the back line led by fifth year and Mountain West Co-Goalkeeper of the Year Beltran Fernandez limited its opposition to seven shots, one shot on goal and three corners.

"What I do know is God has a plan," said senior captain and four-year Lope Jorge Lopez. "When I came back and saw all the guys, I knew there was something special in this group. What team we have and we are not done. We want to keep building off this and get stronger and keep moving on."

The shutout win was the fourth of the season and second of the Mountain West Championship.

"This is like a family," said Coet. "From the guys I play with to the campus, the school and everything, I love it here and we are like a family. I am so happy to be here, and I know the guys will do everything to go far in the tournament."

The victory gave GCU its third D-I era tournament title and 13th regular season or conference title in program history. The Lopes will play in their fifth NCAA Tournament next week and fourth since 2020.

The NCAA selection show will commence Monday, Nov. 16 at 11 a.m. PHX time on ncaa.com.