Box Score
Laie, HI – In a tightly played Pacific West Conference contest Monday afternoon, Academy of Art University not only scored an early goal, but also added a shutout of BYU-Hawaii for the 1-0 Urban Knights victory. Junior Andrew "Boomer" Cruz broke away and netted a goal in the 26th minute while the ART U defense prevented the Seasiders from attempting a single shot on goal.
“The guys fought hard and it's always tough when you're away on the road for a lot of games, but I was proud that they battled hard,” Head Coach Daniel Rosaia said. “The defense played well and we were under lot of pressure because BYU-Hawaii attacked a lot. It was a good defensive effort overall for our guys today. BYUH played great game and just ended up in our favor.”
A physical opening 15 minutes set the tone for the rest of the match. Academy of Art University got a shot from freshman forward
Patrick Heinemann that sailed high, but just minutes later, freshman midfielder
Andrew Durano and sophomore forward
Brazer Bozlak teamed up for a setup Coach Rosaia called “perfect.” The pair combined to assist a shot by
Cruz in which he got past the BYU-Hawaii goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation.
The 1-0 ART U advantage held up through the first half and both teams came out for another tough second period in which 16 fouls were called. Despite the back-and-forth nature of play, a stingy Academy of Art University defense kept the Seasiders at bay. It was only the second time in Urban Knight history that an opponent was held to zero shots on goal (the first coming on Oct. 11, 2008 vs. La Sierra). Leading the ART U defense was senior defender
Josh Garn in an important game on this five-part Hawaii roadtrip.
“Garn was a key factor in the win today playing strong defense and it was just an all-around team effort today,” Coach Rosaia said.
Offensively,
Cruz had the only goal in the match and the tandem of
Bozlak and
Durano each notched their first assists of the season. In terms of total shots,
Heinemann and
Bozlak put up two apiece. Sophomore goalkeeper
Ian Sutherland did not need a save to register the second shutout of his career (the first coming on Sept. 6, 2009).
BYU-Hawaii was led by two shots for midfielder Kamuela Kamoe while goalie Zachary Rasmussen played the entire 90 minutes with one save and one goal allowed.
With the win, Academy of Art moves to 2-6 overall, 1-4 in conference play while BYUH is now 2-3 overall, 1-2 in the PacWest.
On Wednesday, Academy of Art University will play its first of two matches against Chaminade on the roadtrip. Kickoff for the PacWest matchup is set for 10:00 AM HST (1:00 PM PST) at St. Louis Field in Honolulu, HI.
