On Sept. 29, 2010, an artist made history on the soccer field. In the third match of the longest roadtrip the Academy of Art University's soccer program had ever seen, junior forward Andrew "Boomer" Cruz scored five goals in the first 57 minutes of the Urban Knights' 5-0 rout of Chaminade at St. Louis Field. It was something no other Pacific West Conference men's soccer athlete had come close to doing before. Cruz captured PacWest Player of the Week, the first for ART U men's soccer in its three-year history, but the achievement will live on long after the week is over.

“It feels pretty crazy,” Cruz said. “It's pretty cool to have that many goals in one game, but it wouldn't have been possible without the team. They played so well. They kept giving me the ball and that kept giving me more confidence. It's awesome because before this people didn't talk as much about Academy of Art University. Other teams didn't know what to expect and it just feels great to be representing the team and helping put the Urban Knights on the map.”

Head Coach Daniel Rosaia has nothing but praise for Cruz, an Industrial Design major hailing from Pleasanton, CA, who transferred to Academy of Art University from a top-notch Division I men's soccer program at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

“Ever since I met him, I knew he was a special young man,” Coach Rosaia said. “He's a hard-worker and a team leader in a quiet way. He has really connected with the team in a positive way and we've fully expected great things from this young man.”

Coming into that fateful Wednesday morning, Academy of Art University had just pulled off a tightly-fought 1-0 victory over BYU-Hawaii two nights before. This was the third game in five days for the Knights, but Cruz was off and running from the opening kickoff. Less than one minute in, Cruz received a backfield pass from junior defender Elijah Craig, then executed a quick give-and-go to his teammates. Cruz's explosive speed chased down a set up from senior defender Vilmundur Sveinsson and ART U was up 1-0 before 54 seconds had ticked off the clock.

“[The first goal] basically gave me all out confidence,” Cruz said. “Scoring early in the game for me, being a goal-scorer, it only makes me hungrier to score again. It helped me get my swagger early. The team noticed that so they were giving me the ball and putting me in position. Prior to that game, we didn't score a whole lot of goals so I felt like I had to step up and score because that was something we had been lacking.”

Cruz was at it again in the 20th minute when freshman forward Patrick Heinemann launched a pass from 30 feet out to spark goal number two. The third and fourth scores came in a span of a minute shortly thereafter and featured impressive assists by freshman midfielder Andrew Durano. Durano's pass in the 23rd minute led to a quick flick by Cruz to elude the onrushing Silverswords goalkeeper. Then, Durano sent the ball across the goal line to the back post where Cruz put it away. The final goal came in the second half off a perfectly choreographed corner kick connection between Durano and Heinemann.

A total of 12 PacWest players had each scored three goals in a single match dating back to 2007, but none had ever netted five. Of those 12, Mario Pineda was the only ART U athlete to register a “hat trick” which he did versus Pacific Union on Sept. 1, 2009. Going beyond conference and school records, Cruz's accomplishment places him 21st overall in the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer records books for goals in one match. Cruz also added seven shots in the game which rank third all-time for Urban Knight men's soccer.

“In a team sport, every individual achievement has to come from the team,” Coach Rosaia said. “The team is clicking, getting along, playing hard, and Boomer is just a creation from that. It's definitely a team effort and Boomer helped out by taking care of his end of the deal.”

The feat itself could not have been attained, however, without the other Urban Knights alongside Cruz. Not only did Durano assist three consecutive goals, but he also became the third PacWest athlete to have three assists in one match since the records began in 2007. Durano goes down in Academy of Art University history as the first Knight to do so. Along with Durano, Heinemann and Sveinsson each made significant contributions to Cruz's success and Cruz himself has high praise for the defense that day.

“Every single ball they played was set up so perfectly,” Cruz said. “I was making good runs, but that's only half the battle. It all just worked out that day. Durano assisted three, Vimmi one, Patrick had two and they really had quality plays. The defense was great too. They were so calm and confident in themselves. It really starts with the defense because if they can't get us the ball, we can't score. I attribute that whole game to the team around me because it wouldn't have been possible if they hadn't given me the ball.”

Both Coach Rosaia and Cruz agree that the team turned a significant corner on their trip to Hawaii. And while one might think much of the shift occurred on the soccer field, that wasn't exactly where it started. Following a difficult loss to Hawaii Pacific on Sept. 25, captains Sveinsson and Daniel Waller called the Urban Knights together for a player meeting. Behind closed doors, ART U men's soccer did some soul-searching and resolved to become united.

“Prior to Hawaii, and even in the Hawaii Pacific game, there was some disconnect on our team and everyone wasn't really there yet,” Cruz said. “Some of us didn't really understand our roles and positions so we sat down and said, 'Guys, do we want to have a losing season or do we want to turn this thing around?' We know we have the talent on this team and we all said, 'We can do this!' Mainly we decided to come out in first 10 minutes with high pressure. And that right there was a huge contribution to our success. We really wanted to set the tone early by scoring. The meeting was basically to get all on the same page and after that it showed.”

From the time of the meeting to the conclusion of the trip, the Academy of Art University men's soccer team made a complete transformation. The Knights came together in a variety of ways with several different heroes over the four matches that followed the gathering.

“We've definitely gained a lot of momentum especially because of the way that we won the games,” Cruz said. “We won four games in four different ways and we matured as a team in those four games. Against BYU-Hawaii, we scored one in the first half and defended the lead so that was a confidence booster for us to get the shutout. Then versus Chaminade, we had the confidence to know that we can put a team away 5-0. In the next one we won in double OT so you can't get much better than that, right? And in last game against Chaminade, we scored that own goal which was tough. But it showed that we could persevere through the hardship of an own goal. Going into our next games, we know we can get through any situation right now.”

Looking back on everything the Urban Knights achieved on the islands during the longest roadtrip in program history, Coach Rosaia continues to see the bigger picture: Every experience builds on the last.

“Each year as a program, we're getting stronger,” Coach Rosaia said. “The guys really worked hard they came together as a unit. They just put it together in a positive way and we hope to build off of that and continue. I'm real proud of the guys and what they accomplished as a team in Hawaii.”

With the Hawaii trip behind them, Cruz and the Academy of Art University men's soccer team still have challenges to overcome this season: a four-game homestand, rematches against the top two teams in the PacWest, and a pair of meetings with a Notre Dame de Namur squad that consistently finishes strong. At this point, it doesn't much matter how many goals any one player scores in a match as long as the Urban Knights come out on top.

“Basically we just want to keep it going, take the momentum we built in Hawaii, and take it forward,” Cruz said. “We are ready, we are organized, and we are hungry. That's what we've really taken from Hawaii: We're hungry. And we believe in ourselves. We want to beat all the teams we should beat as Dr. Williams says and that's basically it.”