Game #8
ART U Urban Knights (1-6, 0-3 PWC) vs. Chaminade Silverswords (0-7-1, 0-3 PWC)
Saturday, October 1, 2011 at 4:00 PM
San Francisco, CA – Boxer Stadium

KNIGHTS TO FACE SILVERSWORDS AT BOXER STADIUM
ART U men's soccer welcomes Chaminade, its second Hawaiian opponent, to Boxer Stadium this Saturday as Pacific West Conference play continues into October. The Urban Knights and Silverswords met twice in Honolulu, HI last season with Academy of Art winning both matches, outscoring CUH 7-1, and senior forward Andrew "Boomer" Cruz making PacWest history. One team may earn its first conference victory of the season in this upcoming matchup.

OPENING KICKOFF
The Urban Knights return to Boxer Stadium for their PacWest contest with Chaminade on Saturday, Oct. 1. The match is set to begin at 4:00 PM following the women's contest. Remember to check @UrbanKnightNews on Twitter for score updates and recaps. Also become a fan of the Knights on Facebook by 'Like'-ing the Urban Knights page.

KNIGHT WATCH
ART U is led by two goals apiece from freshman forward Frederik Nagel and junior forward Grimur Grimsson. Last week, Nagel, who leads the team in shots on goal (8), netted a goal against Hawaii Pacific (Sept. 20) followed by one from sophomore forward Aron Ekberg at Dixie State (Sept. 23). Thus far, one assist has come from five different Urban Knights with the team currently ranking fifth in the PacWest in that category. Junior goalkeeper Ian Sutherland has returned to his regular duties between the pipes following an early season injury and now has eight saves in 253 minutes over three matches started. Freshman goalie Jacob Baumann still leads the squad with 11 saves in total.

SHEATHING THE SWORDS
Currently sporting a 0-3 conference record, Chaminade started off the season tying Hawaii-Hilo, but has endured a seven-match losing streak since then. However, three of those losses have been by one goal. Max Gerwalt has the lone goal thus far while goalkeeper Jose Miguel Pena has played all 636 minutes with 47 saves and 12 goals allowed. Most recently, the Silverswords fell 3-1 to Grand Canyon and 3-0 against Notre Dame de Namur. When ART U and Chaminade went up against one another last year, Andrew "Boomer" Cruz netted a PacWest record five goals in the first match and Academy of Art won the second contest 2-1 in overtime. CUH will continue its mainland trip with a match at Dominican on Thursday, Sept. 29 prior to facing the Knights.

THE CONFERENCE CHALLENGE
Head Coach Daniel Rosaia and the Academy of Art University men's soccer team play numerous elite teams in the PacWest Conference this season. Last season, the conference had three teams finish 10 or more conference victories including 2010 PacWest Champion Grand Canyon who was ranked #3 when the Knights faced them in the latter part of the year. As of the fourth NSCAA West Region poll, Hawaii Pacific, GCU, and Cal Baptist are all among the top nine with the Sea Warriors tied for #2, the Antelopes at #5, and the Antelopes holding #9.

THE WEEK THAT WAS
It will be a full seven days off the ART U since its previous match at Dixie State. Last week featured two matches in which the Urban Knights were tied with their opponents midway through, but late offense from both Hawaii Pacific and Dixie State created a victory margin. Tied 1-1 against Hawaii Pacific following an interception and score by Nagel in the 46th minute, Academy of Art and HPU both fought hard for the advantage which eventually swung to the Sea Warriors in the 76th minute. A pair of goals by Heimana Chene led to the 3-1 final on Sept. 20. Then, three days later in St. George, UT, Ekberg got the Knights on the board first, but a DSC goal shortly before halftime locked the teams a 1-1 again. In the 61st minute, Dixie managed to break the tie and went on to win 4-1.

LOOKING AHEAD
An upcoming two-match week has Academy of Art facing Notre Dame de Namur on both occasions, Oct. 6 at Koret Field in Belmont, CA and Oct. 8 back at Boxer Stadium. Three more road matches will follow in mid-October.