SAN RAFAEL, Calif. Michael Jackson played a part in today's Halloween women's soccer match between ART U and Dominican University as it was quite a thriller at the end.
 
The Urban Knights' final road match of the season started off much slower however, as neither team got a shot off until minute 11, with Academy of Art having only one in the first half.
 
In the 68th minute, the Penguins' Mariah Meza broke the deadlock with the first goal of the match. After a day with little scoring, it looked as if 1-0 may be the final score in favor of Dominican. However, it gave ART U the boost of adrenaline they needed. The Urban Knights poured on several more shots until the 83rd minute when junior defender Laura Mick crossed over to senior mid Brooke Stewart who placed a header into the far side of the net. It was now tied 1-1.
 
That goal was the last of the contest as through two over times, neither team would allow the other to score.
 
Similar to Thursday's match against Notre Dame de Namur, ART U's defense was one of their biggest strengths. Sophomore goalkeeper Maggie Alikpala-Wilson was credited with eight saves on the afternoon and endured a total of 19 shots. Alikpala-Wilson is now ranked fourth in the conference in saves (68) and touts the 9th highest save percentage (.800). To further credit the Urban Knights' defense, the Penguins had eight corner kicks, none of which resulted in a goal.
 
The Academy of Art (now 4-11-1, 3-7-1 PacWest) was not a slouch on offense either. Although Dominican University (now 5-9-2, 5-5-1 PacWest) had more scoring opportunities, ART U's shots were almost twice as accurate. Four out of the Urban Knights' five shots were on goal (80%), contrasting nine out the Penguins 19 (only 47%).

Head coach Katie Awerkamp had this to say about her team's resiliency:
"It was great to finally bounce back today...saw a lot of fire in the team today and pure confidence...Going down a goal is always nerve wracking, especially late in the game, but we kept our composure and kept our momentum going...I will tell you one thing about this team is that they never quit."
 
NEXT UP:
The Academy of Art returns home for their final two home matches of the season. Their first game comes against 2nd place Concordia University.