2016 Women's Soccer Schedule
 
SAN FRANCISCO – Academy of Art women's soccer heads into 2016 with yet another formidable schedule, taking on multiple CCAA and GNAC opponents before entering the PacWest portion of the season.
 
Four of ART U's first five matches will take place on the road, starting with a face off against Simon Fraser in British Columbia. The Urban Knights are 2-0 all-time against the Clan, winning their last contest 2-1 in 2013. Two of the Knights' following four matches come against teams that ART U women's soccer has yet to face as a program. The first of whom is Western Washington who finished in first place in the GNAC in 2015 with a 21-2-1 record. The Vikings eventually advanced to the NCAA Division II Final Four after capturing the GNAC Conference Championship title. ART U will also face off with Western Oregon who posted an 8-8-1 record during the previous season, finishing seventh in the GNAC. The match against WOU will also mark the first of the season at Beach Chalet, the new home field for Academy of Art men's and women's soccer for the 2016 season.
 
"We are excited to have all of our training and games at Beach Chalet," said head coach Katie Awerkamp. "It's a beautiful complex that we have really gravitated to this past spring. It's going to be a great environment to bring all of our competitors and fans to."
 
The 2016 non-conference matches will conclude with games against Chico state and Cal State Monterey Bay. Academy of Art defeated CSUMB 3-1 in 2015, but have not faced Chico State since 2008.
 
"This is going be a great opportunity to play programs in the GNAC and CCAA," said Awerkamp. "It will be exciting to see how we match up against them and also how much we've grown as a program over the past two years."
 
The Urban Knights will commence conference-play by welcoming in BYU-Hawaii, UH Hilo, and Chaminade for their first home stand of 2016 conference play. The women's soccer team came away with a 2-1 record when they travelled to Hawaii to face these teams in 2015, defeating BYU-Hawaii 1-0 (2OT), and Chaminade 2-0.
 
After their three-match home stand, ART U will head out for their their longest road stint of the season. Two of their three games will come against Point Loma and Azusa Pacific who finished No. 1 and No. 2 in the conference respectively in 2015. Both teams advanced to the NCAA Division II Championship, but fell in the Regional Tournament.
 
After returning home for a match against Dominican, Academy of Art will quickly get back on the road to take on the likes of Fresno Pacific and Dixie State. In their final home stand however, the Urban Knights will compete with Notre Dame de Namur and Hawaii Pacific. HPU is another team that ART U fared well against in 2015 as they took a 1-0 victory over the Sharks to kick off a three-game winning streak during their 2015 stay in Hawaii.
 
The season will conclude with a pair of road matches against California Baptist and Concordia who both finished within the top four in the PacWest in 2015.
 
"We had a great start to last season, but moving forward we know that we have to be prepared and ready for every team and every game," said Awerkamp. "These girls are hungry and they know that no one in this conference will go easy on us. Consistency and competitiveness is going to be our focus this year, while keeping everyone healthy."