Box Score

Photo Gallery (images by Kier LaCrosse & Lorraine Etchell)

San Francisco, CA -- In the team's Pacific West Conference opener on Thursday afternoon at Crocker Amazon Park, Academy of Art University Men's Soccer grinded out a victory over Azusa Pacific, who carry an impressive winning tradition and were picked to finish third in the PacWest this year. Second half goals by junior midfielder Patrick Heinemann (48') and freshman forward Jesus "Chava" Sanchez (67'), which were both assisted by sophomore forward Jonmundur Gretarsson, helped ART U outlast APU for the 2-1 end result.

"We worked hard today and the team is really progressing in the right direction," head coach Daniel Rosaia said. "Azusa Pacific is a strong program with a lot of history and we hung in there with them. At halftime, we talked about catching them off guard and then to get that early goal showed our hard work pays off."

The Urban Knights pushed their offense in the early going, out-shooting Azusa Pacific 5-1 through all but one minute of the opening half. Sanchez had the match's first attempt on frame which came in the 19th minute, but APU goalkeeper Joe Geletko managed the save to keep it scoreless.

Though the Cougars had a pair of corner kicks late in the period, the chance they created ended up being stopped by the ART U defense and the teams went into halftime still tied 0-0.

Two big saves by Ian Sutherland in goal came two minutes into the second half and that defensive momentum immediately turned into offense as the Knights scored in the 48th minute. After Gretarsson sprinted down the right sideline with the ball, he slotted it into Heinemann in the box and as the APU keeper was forced to make a decision, Heinemann easily sent the ball past.

Both defenses repeatedly put up walls and several shots were blocked from that point forward. Fighting against all odds with a man down situation into the 60th minute, ART U revealed its toughness and even added an insurance goal in the 67th minute. Freshman defender Kristof Urbanyi offered the initial shot which was blocked and then Gretarsson was again involved getting the ball to Sanchez inside the box and a score from 10 yards out was the end result.

Academy of Art University was now up 2-0, but the Cougars responded by getting a goal of their own in the 74th minute off a Oktay Bulut pass to Keenan Armbrust. Playing with an even greater sense of urgency now behind by only a single goal, Azusa Pacific was then simply relentless, attempting two shots in the final minute. Down the stretch, it was Sutherland's work between the ART U posts which kept it a 2-1 margin through all of APU's late attacks. He finished with five saves in 90 minutes of action.

“Ian is one of our captains and our senior goalkeeper so we really want him to come up big this year,” Coach Rosaia said. “He had a big contribution today and preserved our victory especially at the end with some great reaction saves.”

Gretarsson became one of now six Urban Knights to register two assists in the same match on Thursday. His ability to set up his teammates was particularly emphasized by Coach Rosaia in his post-match thoughts.

“Johnny worked very hard today and was very unselfish in his play,” Coach Rosaia said. “You could see he was thinking about his teammates. The guys are playing more together as a group and you're starting to see that now.”

At 2-3 overall and now 1-0 in PacWest action, Academy of Art University has relied on a variety of talented individuals to get thus far including two dynamic freshmen in Sanchez and Sebastian Zuniga.

“Sebastian and Chava are two freshmen who started for us today and that worked out nicely,” Coach Rosaia said. “This was a good start to the conference season, but we have to stay focused on working hard. The guys came out and played well today though. We'll be ok moving forward.”

Azusa Pacific moves to 2-2-1 overall on the year and 0-1 in PacWest play with Armbrust's goal and Bulut's assist leading the way. Geletko finished with one save and two goals allowed in his 90 minutes in goal.

ART U remains in San Francisco for its next meeting with another new PacWest member in Point Loma. The Sea Lions and Knights face off this Saturday at CCSF with a 12:00 PM kickoff.