Box Score

San Francisco, CA -- On Wednesday at Boxer Stadium, the Academy of Art University men's soccer team came out of the gate strong to begin their Pacific West Conference match, but could not hold on in a 2-0 loss to the University of Hawaii-Hilo. Outshooting the Vulcans 7-4 in the opening half, the Urban Knights received strong offensive efforts from sophomore forward Brazer Bozlak and junior midfielder Richard Luna.

From kickoff to the end of the first period, ART U was on the offensive. The Knights utilized quickness from junior midfielder Miquel Amezquita early to put pressure on the Vulcan defense. After their first opportunity to score in the 6th minute with a shot on goal by Luna, the junior had a second chance shortly thereafter. In the 13th minute, Bozlak crossed a ball at the center of the box and a short pass to Luna set up the shot which sailed high.

Bozlak nearly scored in the opening period as well. Despite all of the Knights' attempts, both teams would go into halftime scoreless 0-0.

Just over eight minutes into the second half, Hawaii-Hilo was able to break the deadlock with a penalty kick goal. A foul in the box led to the kick and it was George Ichimaru who scored the first goal of the match in the 53rd minute. The next two plays were both ART U corner kicks by freshman midfielder Andrew Durano, but unfortunately for Academy of Art University, neither resulted in a goal.

The Urban Knights had one more prime opportunity in the 81st minute when Bozlak broke away from all four Vulcan defenders to fire a shot that went just wide of the goal. A second goal came by UHH in the final minute of the match, leading to the 2-0 end result.

Junior goalkeeper Daniel Waller played the entire match in goal for the Knights. He notched four saves in addition to the two goals allowed.

For the Vulcans, Ichimaru and Christian Soto each had goals but it was Drew Geis who notched the most shots on the day (4) including two on goal. Goalkeeper Alex Parra registered the shutout with two saves.

With the loss, ART U falls to 1-5 overall, 0-3 in PacWest play. Hawaii-Hilo improves to 2-3-1 on the season, 1-2-1 in the PacWest.

Academy of Art University now takes to the road in their longest trip since the program's inception. ART U plays five matches in Hawaii beginning with a pairing against Hawaii Pacific this Saturday in Kailua, HI. The match is set to kickoff at 12:30 PM HST (3:30 PM PST).