Box Score

Photo Gallery (images by Austin McKeon & Kier LaCrosse)

San Francisco, CA -- The Academy of Art University men's soccer team and BYU-Hawaii exchanged blows throughout a fiercely competitive Wednesday afternoon match at Boxer Stadium. By halftime, an early 2-0 lead by the Seasiders was fully erased by the resilient ART U squad who played over a half of soccer down a man. First half goals came from sophomore midfielder Patrick Heinemann and senior forward Andrew "Boomer" Cruz. Though BYUH scored first in the second period, ART U freshman defender Phillip Durner helped retie the match 3-3 with his first goal of the year. The visitors would tally one more goal, however, in the 64th minute to eventually earn a 4-3 victory.

“I thought the team really showed their resilience today and how much they fight,” head coach Daniel Rosaia said. “We were shorthanded for over 60 minutes, but you know that hard work pays off because we hung in there.”

BYU-Hawaii assumed their first half lead by way of two goals in the first seven minutes, but it would not last against a determined Academy of Art team. The Seasiders began with an unassisted score from Alex Dupaix in the 2nd minute and then Dillon Richens found Justin Allen in the 6th minute to make it 2-0 BYUH. Heimenann made the Urban Knights' first dent in their opponents' advantage in the 13th minute when freshman forward Frederik Nagel headed him the ball and he scored straightaway from the top of the goalie box.

Late in the first half, the match's physical nature was apparent when a second yellow card was dealt to senior defender Vilmundur Sveinsson and Academy of Art was then forced to play with one less man for the remainder of the game. The call did not deter ART U from persevering and soon the home team had an opportunity to knot things up. After BYU-Hawaii fouled the Knights in the box in the 42nd minute, a penalty kick was awarded to Cruz and he nailed the shot to set up the 2-2 score heading into the break.

“Even down to ten men, the team came to play and it was a brilliant effort,” Coach Rosaia said. “Vimmi, that's our leader right there, so for the guys to keep playing hard without him, that's huge. They just kept fighting and never gave up.”

The action began quickly again in the second period as Dupaix looked to capitalize on the advantage with another goal, but after his shot was deflected, Kyle Oertel put the ball into the back of the net in the 48th minute. BYU-Hawaii's enjoyment of that 3-2 lead was extremely short-lived, however, because an Aron Ekberg corner kick in the 51st minute set up a header goal by Durner who had moved into position from the backfield. He scored from eight yards and was able to knot the match once again, 3-3.

The Seasiders continued to push, but ART U was able to turn away several attacks with solid play from its 10 players on the field. In the 64th minute, BYU-Hawaii's Aaron Drewery broke through for a goal off Eric Lowe's free kick from 17 yards out which gave BYUH another one-goal lead. From that point, Academy of Art gave everything it had and was led by senior midfielder Richard Luna's repeated offensive efforts. A four-minute stretch late in the match saw Luna attempt three shots with two being blocked and one saved. He also had the last gasp by the Knights in the final 10 seconds: a shot which sailed wide. It was BYU-Hawaii who ended up the victor 4-3.

Heinemann continued to climb north among the ART U single season points record holders. Following his goal Wednesday, he is now tied for third overall with 12 points. Cruz and Durner each added goals while Nagel earned his first assist of 2011 and Ekberg logged his second. Sutherland completed his ninth consecutive start with two saves in a full 90 minutes. The Knights are now 4-10 overall, 3-7 in the PacWest.

“I thought Rich Luna played absolutely out of his mind today,” Coach Rosaia said.

The Seasiders were led by goals from Dupaix, Allen, Oertel, and Drewery. Assists came off the feet of Richens, Dupaix, and Lowe. The BYUH goalkeeper duties were split between Josiah Holtz who played the first half and Tyler Smedley who entered at halftime. Holtz allowed two goals with no saves while Smedley notched a pair of saves with one goal allowed.  BYU-Hawaii moves to 8-6-1 overall, 4-4-1 in PacWest play.

The Urban Knights have one final roadtrip in 2011 and it comes Friday, Oct. 28 at Pacific Union College of the NAIA. ART U and PUC are scheduled to kick off at 3:00 PM at PUC Soccer Field in Angwin, CA.