San Francisco, CA — A physical stalemate turned into a wild shootout Thursday at Crocker Amazon Park as the Academy of Art University men's soccer team and Hawaii Pacific combined for five goals, 31 shots and 41 fouls with the Sharks coming away with a 4-1 win in both teams' Pacific West Conference opener.
 
The only thing separating the two teams through the first 62 minutes of the match was a penalty kick goal scored by Hawaii Pacific's (3-3-1, 1-0 PacWest) leading scorer Brais Garcia. The Urban Knights (2-5, 0-1 PacWest) were called for a handball in the box at the 37-minute mark and Garcia made good on the attempt for a 1-0 lead.
 
Opportunities were plentiful for both teams throughout. Three different Urban Knights took at least two shots while Garcia and Jorge Vela put three and four shots on goal, respectively for HPU. Hawaii Pacific finally broke through in the second half with an offensive goal in the 62nd minute. Vela sent a cross into the box and Mario Garcia beat ART U goalkeeper Joshua Leader low and left to give the Sharks a 2-0 advantage.
 
Two minutes later HPU scored again to take a 3-0 lead when Vela found the net thanks to assists from Ryo Sugihara and Guillem Vinas Marin. Vinas Marin gave a touch pass from the left side towards the box to Sugihara, who tapped it to Vela for the finish.
 
The Sharks capped their three-goal second half outburst in the 75th minute with Brais Garcia's second goal of the day and sixth of the season. Garcia received a pass while running down the left side. He continued his speed to beat one defender into the box and take a low shot, making it 4-0.
 
Despite being down 4-0 with less than 15 minutes to play, ART U kept fighting. Junior midfielder Kristof Urbanyi put the Urban Knights on the board 1:14 after Garcia's last score, with a shot from 20 yards out. Urbanyi and Jon Johannesson passed the ball back and forth before Urbanyi fired a long and high shot that found the net to make the score 4-1.
 
Urbanyi's goal ensured the Urban Knights extended their streak of scoring at least one goal to four matches. Academy of Art next hosts Hawaii-Hilo at noon Saturday at CCSF.