SAN FRANCISCO – Eagerly anticipating the start of the 2022 season that is just over a month away, Academy of Art women's soccer announced the fourth member of the fall 2022 recruiting class as joining ART U at the beginning of August will be Natalia Cruz (Chula Vista, Calif./Eastlake High School). 

The third true freshman of the class, Cruz comes to the Urban Knights after most recently attending Eastlake High School in her hometown of Chula Vista, Calif. where she played varsity soccer for three years before graduating this past spring. A versatile piece who played both at forward and in the midfield, Cruz experienced solid success during her time with the Titans as the team posted a 13-3-1 overall record during her junior year in 2020-21, which included an 11-1-0 record in Metro Mesa League play to claim first place. Eastlake would appear in the 2021 CIF San Diego Section Girls' Soccer Championships as the No. 2 seed, but exited the tournament in the semifinals. 

The following year saw the Titans once again finish over .500 with an overall record of 9-8-3, finishing third in the Metro Mesa league with a mark of 5-4-1. Once more Eastlake would earn a postseason appearance by claiming the No. 1 seed in the 2022 CIF San Diego Section Girls' Soccer Championships, where the Titans would advance all the way to the finals before placing as the runner-up to tournament champion and No. 10 seed Torrey Pines. An integral part of the team's success, Cruz went on to lead Eastlake in assists that season while also collecting the Coaches Award. 

In addition to her prep career Cruz has appeared for a total of four different clubs, but was picked as the team captain and team Most Valuable Player while with Rebels Soccer Club (2017-22) and Barca CA (2015-17). Born to an athletic family, Cruz's father Joseph played football at the University of San Diego, and her brother Dominic also played football but for the University of Nevada. Cruz joins a fall 2022 ART U recruiting class that also features Alicia Calderon, Claire Lau, and Danielle Medellin. Upon her arrival to ART U, she will enroll in the School of Communications & Media Technologies with the goal of one day becoming a sports reporter.