GC soccer team<br>dumps Tri-City, 8-3
The Grand Canyon High School soccer team stepped out of the conference last weekend for games against Prescott Tri-City Prep and Tempe Precision, a couple of schools that just might end of in the Phantoms’ region in the near future.
Scott Olsen sends a shot past Tri-City Prep's goalkeeper Friday. Olsen had a hat trick by the end of the first half.
In a home match Friday against the visitors from Prescott, Grand Canyon saw a variety of players step up their game in an 8-3 victory. Phantoms coach Ken Hunter was much more pleased with the team’s victory compared to a lackluster 5-2 win over the same team one week earlier.
"They played really well, compared to the last game," Hunter said. "But they were not really focused the first time we played them. At halftime, I talked to them about focusing in the second half ... our downfall has been the first 10 minutes of the second half. We’ve given up a lot of goals in those first 10 minutes."
The Phantoms jumped out to a quick lead with a header goal by Scott Olsen in the second minute of the game. Olsen hit the ball home on a corner kick by Jesse Hunter.
Just three minutes later, Chas Iacampo found the left corner on the net after receiving a pass from Nate Bitsui. The coach played both Iacampo and Bitsui in new positions for the game. Bitsui stepped out of goal to give backup Jake Wahler time in the net.
Tri-City Prep came right back to give Grand Canyon a game. The opponent scored on a perfectly placed goal from 20 yards out and then knotted the score on another shot in the 22nd minute.
But Grand Canyon woke right up and scored four more times in the final 17 minutes of the first half. Miles Hunter set up Iacampo on a goal as the team went up, 3-2. Then Olsen scored on a shot that hit the goalpost, but bounced in for the point. Tempy Walker got the assist on that one.
Olsen, freshman, then got his first varsity hat trick in the 26th minute after beating the Tri-City defense. Walker again set up Olsen with a nice pass.
Grand Canyon made the score 6-2 with a goal by Walker with 10 minutes left in the half. Eddie Tobin got the ball to Walker and was credited with the assist.
Iacampo scored his third goal of the day just 18 seconds into the second half after a pass from Brian Skeet. Iacampo, junior, had his first-ever hat trick. And with Olsen’s matched feat, gave the team two different players with hat tricks in the same game, a rare occurrence.
Miles Hunter, who has been the leading scorer this season, found the net for the team’s final goal on a penalty kick. Tri-City scored with 17 minutes left in the game to account for the final score.
Grand Canyon used the opportunity to play all of its available athletes, many of whom have seen little action this season because of a lack of junior-varsity games.
The Phantoms then headed down to Tempe to take on Precision for a second time this season. The group out of the valley took a 5-2 victory.
Manuel Galaviz scored four goals to lead Precision, which held a 3-1 lead at the intermission. Grand Canyon’s lone goal in the first half came on a shot by Iacampo, who was set up by Skeet.
In the second half, Phantom senior Joe Wilkerson scored his first-ever goal on a penalty kick in the 78th minute.
"The nice thing is to see someone else besides Miles score some goals," Coach Hunter said about the last two games. "We were missing a lot of kids Saturday and Miles got injured."
The neck injury to Miles Hunter does not appear to be serious and it’s unknown how it occurred.
Grand Canyon (1-2, 6-6) will play two key conference games this week. The Phantoms play at Ash Fork Friday and then come home to host Sedona Red Rock on Saturday.
Both matches are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. A junior-varsity match is also on the schedule for Saturday against Sedona with a 3 p.m. start.
Summaries
Friday at Grand Canyon
Tri-City Prep 2 1—3
Grand Canyon 6 2—8
First half—1, Grand Canyon, Scott Olsen (Jesse Hunter), 2nd minute. 2, Grand Canyon, Chas Iacampo (Nate Bitsui), 5th minute. 3, Tri-City Prep, 9th minute. 4, Tri-City Prep, 22nd minute. 5, Grand Canyon, Iacampo (Miles Hunter), 23rd minute. 6, Grand Canyon, Olsen (Tempy Walker), 25th minute. 7, Grand Canyon, Olsen (Walker), 26th minute. 8, Grand Canyon, Walker (Eddie Tobin), 30th minute.
Second half—9, Iacampo (Brian Skeet), 40th minute. 10, M. Hunter, 50th minute. 11, Tri-City Prep, 57th minute.
Note: Tri-City Prep roster not available.
Saturday at Tempe
Grand Canyon 1 1—2
Precision 3 2—5
First half—1, Precision, Manuel Galaviz, 6th minute. 2, Precision, Albert Arbayo (Galaviz), 23rd minute. 3, Grand Canyon, Chas Iacampo (Brian Skeet), 26th minute. 4, Precision, Galaviz (Rohibi Corzo), 27th minute.
Second half—5, Precision, Galaviz (Julio Perez), 47th minute. 6, Precision, Galaviz, 74th minute. 7, Grand Canyon, Joe Wilkerson, 78th minute.
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