Box Score

San Francisco, CA – Less than an hour after Academy of Art University Athletics hosted its "Kicking It For Kids" Kickball Tournament, Urban Knights Men's Soccer displayed its own fancy footwork to the tune of a 6-0 victory against Simpson. ART U tied the program record for most goals in a single match as junior Frederik Nagel netted a pair of goals and senior Aron Ekberg added one goal along with two assists out at Boxer Stadium on Saturday afternoon.


From the very outset, Academy of Art showed it would control the tempo in this match. The ball remained among the ART U offense for the majority of 90 minutes and everything began with a shot attempt from senior Patrick Heinemann just 37 seconds in. The Knights continued to push the attack, but Simpson had its one response of the half come in the sixth minute with Myers Koffa sending a shot that required a spectacular leaping save from freshman Luca Theis to stop.

Patient with its offense, ART U continued to send attempts, 21 shots in total for the half, at SU goalkeeper Justin Webb and the Simpson back line. Then, in the final five minutes of the period, Academy of Art broke through after Nagel juked past his defender in the corner to open up a goal from 17 yards off the cross bar and into the net.

In the 44th minute, Nagel struck again, this time receiving a cross from Ekberg and burying his shot from 18 yards at the top of the box. Academy of Art carried a 2-0 advantage into the second period and was able to quickly build upon that lead. Junior Malcolm McLellan's attempt in the 56th minute deflected off the keeper and found senior Leonardo Bartelle at the left post. He proceeded to swiftly send the ball across the goal line to sophomore Jesus "Chava" Sanchez who tapped it home for a 3-0 score.

A rare sight came in the 57th minute when Ekberg executed a corner kick so perfectly that it curved past the goalie and was delivered to the far post for yet another goal. Sophomore Lennart Fleschhut, known primarily for his defensive ability, even got in on the scoring as he headed in a cross from Ekberg on the left side in the 69th minute. It was the first goal of his Academy of Art career.

For the sixth and final time, ART U put one in as the clock had just passed 89 minutes complete. Junior Jonmundur Gretarsson stayed with the play after a missed opportunity off the goal post and simply poked the ball in as it fell along the goal line. The end result was a 6-0 victory and the second consecutive win for men's soccer.

"It was fun, but you have to make sure to keep working and get better every day," Ekberg said. "We had great chances in both halves and we played well."

Nagel finished with two goals, the first two of the match that both came in the first half, while Ekberg contributed two assists and a goal. Sanchez, Fleschhut, and Gretarsson each had one goal apiece and Bartelle added an assist. Theis moved to 2-0 this season with 79:19 minutes between the pipes and a single save. He combined with sophomore Jacob Baumann in the shutout. The six goals tied the program record originally set two years ago at Dominican.

"The last few games were physical games so we had to play in a different way, but today we could play our style and, right before conference, that's very encouraging," Nagel said.

Academy of Art next begins Pacific West Conference play on Thursday, Sept. 19 with California Baptist in town at Crocker Amazon Park. Kickoff is scheduled for 11:00 AM.

"Conference is another animal and it's very tough this year so we're excited to get started," Coach Keller said. "I think the best thing about today is that everybody got minutes. Now if we need them in a conference game, they're ready. Everybody showed well today and now we have a little rhythm to go forward as a unit."