MATCH #7Hawaii Pacific (3-1-1, 0-0 PacWest) at Academy of Art (0-5-1, 0-0 PacWest)
Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014, at 1 p.m. PDT
San Francisco, CA — Crocker Amazon Park
LIVE VIDEO/STATS MATCH #8Hawaii-Hilo (3-1-1, 0-0 PacWest) at Academy of Art (0-5-1, 0-0 PacWest)
Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, at 3:30 p.m. PDT
San Francisco, CA — CCSF
LIVE STATS ONLY San Francisco, CA — The Academy of Art University women's soccer team has seen in its early-season non-conference schedule what an offensive burst can do, and it has been battle tested with three matches against teams now ranked in the national top-20 – all in preparation for opening play in the PacWest Conference this week.
Two more strong squads will come to San Francisco Thursday and Saturday with Hawaii Pacific (3-1-1, 0-0 PacWest) and Hawaii-Hilo (3-1-1, 0-0 PacWest) visiting as PacWest play kicks off. Thursday the Sharks face the Urban Knights (0-5-1, 0-0 PacWest) at 1 p.m. at Crocker Amazon Park. Saturday the Vulcans visit CCSF for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff.
ART U has already seen its share of talent this season. In its last match it was defeated by then-No. 22 Sonoma State 2-0 on the road. The Knights also fell to then-No. 8 Cal State Stanislaus on the road and took a 2-0 defeat at home to current No. 12-ranked Cal State San Bernardino on Sept. 4.
But when the goals come – and the Urban Knights have seen them – the team knows it can compete. Academy of Art scored a season-high three goals versus Cal State East Bay on Wednesday to earn its first draw of the season.
ABOUT HAWAII PACIFICThe Sharks (3-1-1, 0-0 PacWest) were unbeaten until Monday when they were handed their first loss of the season by San Francisco State, 2-1. Through their first four matches of the season they outscored opponents 7-3 in going 3-0-1. Thursday's clash against the Urban Knights is the first of three straight road games for the Sharks.
Hawaii Pacific has received goals from five different players this season, led by Ashlyn Ubongen with three. Ubongen also leads the team in points with seven. Goalkeeper Kelby Boswell has held opponents to a 0.96 goals against average and recorded 16 saves in 470 minutes.
ABOUT HAWAII-HILOThe Vulcans (3-1-1) are unbeaten in their last four matches, going 3-0-1 since Sept. 7. On Tuesday they defeated Cal State East Bay 1-0 after a 10-day hiatus following a 1-1 non-conference draw at Hawaii Pacific on Sept. 13. Hawaii-Hilo has scored only one goal in three of its five games but has gone 2-0-1 in those contests.
Kristine Pasek and Caroline Stromick both lead Hawaii-Hilo with two goals and four points. The Vulcans have two goalkeepers who have logged over 100 minutes this season and have goals against averages below 1.00. Jenna Hufford leads the way with a 0.74 GAA in 362:52 and nine saves.
LEADING THE WAYJunior forward Réa Laudat is the Urban Knights' leading scorer this season thanks to a huge five-point day Wednesday versus Cal State East Bay. Laudat scored her second and third goals of the season and assisted on another as ART U earned the double overtime tie.
