GLENDALE, Ariz. – The conference season officially began on Thursday as the Warriors hit the road for Arizona to take on the Arizona Christian Firestorm. After falling behind early, Jessup was forced to play catch up for nearly 90-minutes as the Firestorm took the GSAC opener, 2-0.
 
After the match, Head Coach Greg Lazaga spoke highly of his opponent, stating, "Arizona Christian has a couple of outstanding players in the attack that hurt us early."
 
ACU quickly got on the board Thursday as goalkeeper Robert Sams was beat on the far post by a low driving shot from German Lopez. Sams would be put to work early on as he needed to make two quick saves in the opening 15 minutes, one of which came on a point-blank header.
 
Lazaga spoke to the early goal, adding, "We came out passive, and we were on our heels for the first 20 minutes of the game. Turnovers in our own half were high. But, as the game went on, we figured out the game plan."
 
Offense was hard to come by for the Warriors, but the best chance early came twenty minutes in on a Josh Freeman breakaway. Freeman's one-on-one chance was denied, but a second opportunity from Paolo Ionescu sailed high.
 
Jessup produced six shots in the opening half, opposed to nine by the Firestorm. Still looking for his first goal of the season, Freeman had the lone two shots on goal in the opening 45-minutes.
 
Into the second half, Jessup continued to search for an equalizer, firing off an additional five shots with two coming on goal. However, the quest to even the match at 1-1 ended in the 70th minute when Lopez netted his second goal of the match, putting ACU ahead 2-0.
 
On Jessup's second-half performance, Lazaga added, "In the second half, we came out hungry and largely played on their half of the field. We ended up getting fewer shots, but the execution was much better, and our chances and field position skyrocketed. This is a game we can learn from. All GSAC games are going to be at this leve,l and we need to continue to rise for entire games."
 
Sams played all 90 minutes in goal for the Warriors Thursday. He would record five saves. ACU goalkeeper Andres Arce finished with four saves as he recorded the 90-minute shutout.
 
With Thursday's loss, Jessup falls to 1-7-0 (0-1-0 GSAC) on the season.
 
The conference season continues on Saturday for the Warriors when they take on Ottawa University (AZ) in Surprise, AZ. The Spirit enter Saturday's match ranked No. 17 in the latest NAIA Top-25 Coaches Poll. Match time is slated for 12:30 p.m.
   
William Jessup University is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC). For additional information regarding Jessup Athletics, visit www.jessupathletics.com; visit www.jessup.edu for more information on William Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: William Jessup University Athletics (Facebook) and @JessupAthletics (Twitter & Instagram).