Box Score
Photo Gallery (images by Rob Garcia & Kenny Chacon)

Belmont, CA – ART U Men's Soccer added to its collection of thrilling victories at Koret Field with a 2-1 comeback win over Notre Dame de Namur on Saturday afternoon. Facing a 1-0 deficit at halftime, the Urban Knights mobilized behind Jonmundur Gretarsson and William "Willy" Velasco Villa for a one-two punch in the second period and Academy of Art University's second Pacific West Conference victory this season.

Scoring opportunities were hard to come by for both sides in the early going, but perhaps one of the closest sequences came by NDNU's Armando Garcia in the 29th minute. He received a slotted pass right in front of goalkeeper Joshua Leader, but Leader was able to come out and tackle the ball just in time.

Andrew Durano served up the ART U rebuttal two minutes later, but Argo keeper Jay Tsuruoka was there for another dangerously close save. In the 37th minute, however, Notre Dame de Namur connected with Jack Ewert scoring on a combination assist from Adam Hughes and Matt DeQuiroz.

That 1-0 NDNU advantage would hold up through halftime and into the second period, but Gretarsson provided the equalizer in the 68th minute. He single-handedly freed himself from the defense with a series of moves before a soft touch to change direction opened him up for a shot to the top left corner. In a split second, Gretarsson sent the ball over the jumping goalie and made it a 1-1 game.

It was not much later that the Urban Knights struck again with what would end up being the game-winner. In the 80th minute, Velasco Villa picked up the pass back from Gretarsson after a throw-in and again launched to the same spot over a leaping Tsuruoka.

"I saw the play coming along and I knew [Gretarsson] was going to put it back because of the way he set his body so I knew I was going to shoot it and I'm just glad it went in," Velasco Villa said.

Weathering a final push by the Argonauts, ART U made it three victories in four years on Koret Field.

"In the second half, the guys pushed the issue a little bit and we talked about trying to take a little more risk and getting more on the attacking half," head coach Mike Keller said. "We didn't create a lot of chances, but the two we did hit the back of the net so it was a good feeling and a good effort for the guys today."

Academy of Art moves to 2-1 in PacWest play and 4-3 overall this season with the victory. Gretarsson had his third goal of the year along with his second assist while Velasco Villa netted the first goal of his collegiate career. Leader provided two saves in a complete 90 minutes in goal.

"[The win] is definitely going to give us a lot of passion for the upcoming games and we're definitely going to get some goals in the next game so, as a team, it's looking good," Gretarsson said.

For the Argos, Ewert had his second goal this season with Hughes and DeQuiroz adding assists. Tsuruoka had two saves and two goals allowed in 90 minutes for an NDNU team that moves to 3-4-1 overall (1-1-1 in PacWest).

The Urban Knights return to San Francisco for their next home game which will be a non-conference match hosting Dominican on Monday, Sept. 30 at 1:00 PM out at Crocker Amazon Park.

"In the second half, the guys pushed the issue a little bit and we talked about trying to take a little more risk and getting more on the attacking half," Coach Keller said. "We didn't create a lot of chances, but the two we did hit the back of the net so it was a good feeling and a good effort for the guys today."