Box Score

Photo Gallery (images by Tony Gallegos)

San Bernardino, CA – For the start of the 2011 season, Academy of Art University found themselves in southern California for the CSU San Bernardino tournament. In their first game of the tournament, the Urban Knights were matched up against Minot State on Saturday evening. The Knights were aggressive from the get go, wasting little time showing their offensive attack strength. But the Minot State Beavers were able to capitalize on two corner kicks, scoring once in the first half, and once in the second. Although ART U was aggressive, they were unable to overcome the early deficit, and ended up falling with a final score of 2-0.
“We impressed in our style of play today and it showed,” said Head Coach Aileen Nasypany.  “We took control of the game and we need to do the same things doing forward to be successful.”

The Urban Knights had control of the ball for the majority of the first half, but not before Minot State got on the board. Just one minute into the game, the Beavers managed to score from a corner kick. But the Knights quickly rebounded, not letting that get in their way. ART U was relentless and ended up recording 12 shots in the first half; just missing the goal with several of their shots.

The second half played out very similar to the first, with the Knights now relying on their defense to hold their opponents. But again it was a corner kick that overcame the solid ART U defense. In the 82^nd minute of play, the Beavers added to their lead with another goal that just hit the net after a scramble in the box from the corner kick. That put Minot State up by two. The Knights managed two more shots in the half, but could not come back from the deficit. The team just came up short dropping the game to the Beavers with a score of 2-0.

“As a team we learned how to rebound back after a goal is scored and how to fight back as a team,” said coach Nasypany.

Leading the aggressive offense for Academy of Art were seniors Megan Bucci and Emi Sullivan. Both Bucci and Sullivan recorded four shots each. Sophomore Margaret Thorolfsdottir also contributed to the offensive strike by posting four shots individually in the match. Senior Jessica Madrid and freshman Haily MacDonald also recorded one shot a piece in the game for ART U.

“Megan Bucci was really important in our play today” added Nasypany. “She led the charge from the front, and Erica kept us organized and was an anchor for us in the back. We have to look for leadership from our returning players to bring us a win on Monday.”

In the goal for the Urban Knights was freshman Jessica Bibby who played all 90 minutes in the net in her first official game. She played great defense posting two saves in the first, and five in the second for a total of seven saves on the day.

For Minot State, Brittany Hunt and Shannon Walsh each scored one goal for their team, their firsts of the season. Sidney Bockoven and Chantal Paradis both received an assist on the day. Ashley Barcewski was in the goal for the Beavers and played all 90 minutes, recording four saves and receiving the win for her team.

After the loss, the Academy of Art University's record falls to 0-1, while Minot State's record improves to 2-0 overall. The Knights have one more game competing in the CSU San Bernardino tournament that will be played on Monday, September 5^th. The Knights are set to take on tournament host Cal State San Bernardino with kickoff scheduled for 11:00 am.