SAN FRANCISCO – With the return to campus just under a month away, Academy of Art women's soccer has continued its effort to bolster the squad for the upcoming season. Joining the Urban Knights as the most recent member of the Fall 2022 recruiting class is Claire Lau (Oakland, Calif./Occidental College). 

Lau enters Academy of Art as a graduate student with two years of eligibility remaining after previously spending time with Occidental College, as the midfielder appeared in five contests where she totaled two shots with one on goal. Prior to her collegiate career, the Oakland, Calif. native graduated from The Bay School in San Francisco where she played varsity soccer for four years. Across her time at The Bay School, the Breakers recorded an overall record of 64-13-5, while also notching a 41-5-4 mark in the Bay Counties Central League.

During her senior campaign, the Breakers played to an overall record of 18-1-1, finishing second in the Central League by just a single game after posting a mark of 12-1-1. Lau was instrumental in the team's success, scoring a total of eight goals with seven assists for a total of 23 points, an average of 1.3 points per game across her 18 contests played. By year's end Lau totaled nearly 1,000 minutes of game time (962), and twice a tallied a four-point game. On three separate occasions Lau was named the Player of the Game (Feb. 27, May 1, May 15), and The Bay School was crowned the winners of the NCS/Les Schwab Tires Girls Spring Soccer Championships to close the season. 

"I'm excited to be back in the [Bay Area], playing soccer and continuing to grow as an artist," Lau said. 

Upon her arrival at ART U, Lau will enroll in the School of Graphic Design with the goal of one day becoming a graphic design artist. Lau joins Alicia Calderon as the second member of the ART U Fall 2022 recruiting class.