2013 Men's Soccer Schedule

San Francisco, CA – The Urban Knights will begin an 18-match quest for glory this September as Academy of Art University men's soccer coaching staff has released its 2013 schedule. 

"It's a challenging schedule and that's what we are looking for," head coach Mike Keller said. "Our conference has become very tough and overall we need to be ready for capable opponents every game.  We believe these good contests will only make us stronger in the end."

Three scrimmages in late August (City College of San Francisco, Cal State Stanislaus, and Sonoma State) lead the Knights into the official start to their 2013 campaign on Sept. 5 with Humboldt State in town at Crocker Amazon Park. A trip to Seaside, CA to face Cal State Monterey Bay comes two days later on Sept. 7 before ART U returns home for a pair of non-conference home matches as part of a stretch that includes six of seven contests in San Francisco.

First up, Saint Martin's comes to Crocker Amazon Park on Sept. 12 then the NAIA's Simpson University will face Academy of Art on Sept. 14 at Boxer Stadium. Pacific West Conference play then begins with two opponents who finished among the Top 5 in the PacWest standings by the season's end. On Sept. 19 at Crocker Amazon Park, ART U will host California Baptist, who took third overall (16-5-2) in 2012, followed by Azusa Pacific, the PacWest's fifth highest finisher (12-6-1) last season, on Sept. 21 at City College of San Francisco (CCSF).

"I can't say enough about how strong the PacWest has become," Coach Keller said. "On and off the field, this is a great conference for ART U to compete in and I'm looking forward to playing good teams every game. To be ready for this, we are looking to build physically and mentally in every match to be ready for these tests. We have some good local games that will help us prepare for the conference and we are always looking for opponents who will be able to push us to the next level."

A single road match at Notre Dame de Namur's Koret Field comes on Sept. 28 where the Knights will continue their local rivalry with an Argonauts team that has never finished outside the PacWest's Top 4 since the dawn of the conference's modern era in 2006. NDNU went 13-5-1 last year.

The Urban Knights remain local through mid-October as they host Dominican (Oct. 1) and Holy Names (Oct. 4) at Crocker Amazon Park and CCSF respectively. Less than a week after playing Dominican at home, ART U heads to San Rafael for a rematch with the Penguins at Kennelly Field on Oct. 6. From there, Academy of Art will be home once more to challenge Point Loma on Oct. 12 at CCSF and Dixie State on Oct. 14 at Crocker Amazon Park.

A heavy local schedule through the opening half of the ART U season concludes with an Oct. 19 stop at Merritt College Stadium in Oakland where the Knights rematch with Holy Names. Then Academy of Art is off to Hawaii for a four-part trip that begins with Chaminade (Oct. 26) and continues with BYU-Hawaii (Oct. 28), UH Hilo (Oct. 31), and 2011 PacWest Champion Hawaii Pacific (Nov. 2).

"Obviously going to Hawai'i is a big part of the conference and an opportunity to look forward to," Coach Keller said. "That being said, we are really going to take it one game at a time. We will focus on what's in front of us and look to play our best football every time we step out on the field.  Regardless of where we play, we'll have the best chance to play well with this mindset."

The 2013 season ends with one final home match to be played at Kezar Stadium on Nov. 9. Academy of Art finds itself matched up with Fresno Pacific, second in the PacWest standings last year (17-5-1), for the Senior Day finale.