GAME #6
ART U Urban Knights (1-4, 0-2) vs. UHH Vulcans (1-2-1, 0-1-1)
Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2010 at 11:00 AM
San Francisco, CA - Boxer Stadium
GAME #7
ART U Urban Knights (1-4, 0-2) vs. HPU Sea Warriors (3-1, 2-0)
Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010 at 12:30 PM HST
Kailua, HI – Atherton Field
Game Notes
SOME HOME COOKING BEFORE A TRIP TO THE ISLANDS:
The Urban Knights sustained two tough losses to begin Pacific West Conference competition this past week. Facing Dixie State and 2009 PacWest Champion Grand Canyon, Academy of Art University battled hard, but could not come up with a victory. ART U finishes off its three-game homestand Wednesday against Hawaii-Hilo before heading to Hawaii for five road matches.
OPENING KICKOFF:
The Knights' homestand to open up PacWest play concludes this Wednesday when ART U faces Hawaii-Hilo at Boxer Stadium. The match is scheduled to begin at 11:00 AM. Academy of Art University then kicks off a five-match roadtrip at Hawaii Pacific on Sept. 25. Saturday's match starts at 3:30 PM PST (12:30 PM HST) on Atherton Field.
KNIGHT WATCH:
Following two PacWest contests thus far, junior forward Andrew "Boomer" Cruz currently leads the Knights in shots with 11. Six of those attempts by Cruz have come on frame, giving him the highest shot on goal percentage on the squad (.545). Freshman forward Grimur Grimsson and junior midfielder Richard Luna still stand atop the offensive statistics with four and three points respectively. A starter in four of ART U's five matches, junior goalkeeper Daniel Waller now has 13 saves with close to 330 minutes played. Waller posted a complete game versus Dixie State and played the first half of the match with Grand Canyon.
SCOUTING THE VULCANS:
On the road for their first seven matches, Hawaii-Hilo registered a 1-0 victory over BYU-Hawaii to begin the season, but failed to win against the first two opponents in official PacWest play. Notre Dame de Namur defeated the Vulcans 4-2 on Sept. 16 and a 2-2 tie came against Dixie State on Sept. 18. Hawaii-Hilo is currently led offensively by midfielder Drew Geis who has two goals and 16 shots. Defensively, time in goal has been split between Alex Parra and Dane Kaylor. Each goalkeeper has played in three matches and both have notched nine saves apiece. The Vulcans will face Grand Canyon on Sept. 20 before taking on ART U.
SCOUTING THE SEA WARRIORS:
In all three of Hawaii Pacific's victories this season, there has been one constant: forward Chance Bukoski scores two goals. The PacWest Player of the Week scored the game-winner in both of the Sea Warriors' conference wins, a 4-2 triumph over Chaminade and a 3-0 shutout of BYU-Hawaii. While Bukoski leads the PacWest in goals scored, his teammate, forward Richard Guffens has played an important role by assisting two of those goals. Between the pipes, Kay Flache has eaten up all 360 minutes for HPU with 11 saves and three goals allowed.
THE WEEK THAT WAS:
Kicking off PacWest competition at home inside Boxer Stadium this past week, the Academy of Art University men's soccer team encountered two strong opponents in Dixie State and Grand Canyon. The Urban Knights had opportunities against the Red Storm including a potential game-tying penalty kick shortly before the end of the opening half. Freshman defender Gustav Hedberg took the kick, but Dixie State's goalkeeper guessed right and made the save. Following the 2-0 DSC victory, the Urban Knights took on Grand Canyon, last season's PacWest champion, two days later. ART U hung with the reigning champs for the first 15 minutes, but the 'Lopes took a lead midway through the first half and held on for the win.
MOVING FORWARD:
By the end of this week, ART U will be in the thick of its five-match Hawaii roadtrip. The longest trip in program history has the Knights paired with BYU-Hawaii on Sept. 27 and then the first of two games at Chaminade on Sept. 29. A rematch will also come against Hawaii-Hilo on Oct. 1 to start the second month of the 2010 season.
