Nampa, ID -- The ART U men's soccer team scored its first two goals of the year and battled back from being down 2-0 to Northwest Nazarene early, but the Crusaders would pull away for the 4-2 victory. Freshman forward Frederick Nagel and sophomore forward Leonardo Bartelle each had their first goals in an Urban Knight uniform while senior midfielder Richard Luna added an assist.

“The team had a tough start from the opening minute,” Head Coach Daniel Rosaia said. “We went down 2-0 pretty early, but we slowly turned it around. Andrew Durano and Richard Luna played strong in the midfield for us. Then that goal before the half ended was a big pick-up for the team. It was really positive for us to fight back from a 2-0 deficit, but there's still a lot more work to do now to push it over the top.”

Though the Crusaders established an early lead with two goals by the 15th minute, Academy of Art was far from throwing in the towel. In the 27th minute, Nagel received a cross Luna on the left side and buried a goal to the NNU goalkeeper's left. This connection gave the Knights momentum heading into halftime and they would be the first team to score in the second period.

A match-tying goal would come from Bartelle in the 73rd minute when he entered into the box and was fouled by the Crusader defense. The sequence resulted in a penalty kick for Bartelle and he put the ball past the NNU keeper to make it anyone's match for the final 17 minutes.

“Our second goal was also a good team play,” Coach Rosaia said. “The team took the ball downfield, got in tight, and they fouled us. Then it was a nice penalty kick that Leo nailed. The good thing from today was Freddy and Leo both scored so that'll help our team as their confidence grows.”

Just over three minutes after the match had been tied 2-2, Northwest Nazarene took a lead once again. NNU's second goal from Alex Mangeac came from about 18 yards out and then a second goal was scored in the 79th minute to put the Crusaders in front 4-2. They would hold on for the victory.

Nagel and Bartelle led Academy of Art with one goal apiece in a combined four shots on goal. Senior goalkeeper Daniel Waller had one save in his 90 minutes between the pipes. The Urban Knights are now 0-2 this season. Though not appearing in the box score, senior defender Vilmundur Sveinsson and senior forward Andrew "Boomer" Cruz were both recognized by Coach Rosaia for their solid efforts along with the youth on the team.

“The freshmen are buying into the program and have started to play pretty well,” Coach Rosaia said. “Also Vimmi, our captain, is always solid for us defensively. Dalton Gullo played a good game and Boomer always gives 110 percent with lots of heart.”

The Crusaders were led by two goals from Alex Mangeac who came off the bench and led all players with a match-high five shots. Goalkeeper Zander Engeman finished with three saves and two goals allowed in a full 90 minutes of action. NNU moves to 1-0 this year.

ART U will remain in Idaho through the Labor Day weekend with a neutral site contest coming up on Monday, Sept. 5 against The College of Idaho at 12:00 PM MDT (11:00 AM PDT).