SAN FRANCISCO – Coming off of a 5-0 loss to BYU-Hawaii, Academy of Art men's soccer (1-5-1, 1-1 PacWest) sought to right their 0-1 PacWest record when UH Hilo (1-5, 0-2 PacWest) came to town on Saturday. Feeding off of the energy from one of the newest Urban Knights, junior midfielder Jonny Navarro became the hero with a golden goal in the 103rd minute.
 
The Urban Knights put together a quiet first half, only getting off two shots (one on goal). It was sophomore goalkeeper Kevin Mendez who did the heavy lifting in the opening period, facing seven shots and saving three.
 
In the second half, ART U's offense began to stir. The Urban Knights came away with nine shots, three from Navarro and two came off the foot of freshman forward Andrew Deans. In fact, Deans almost put the Knights on the board in the 62nd minute: the Ontario native had an open look in front of the net, but his shot went just high and ricocheted off of the crossbar and bounced outside of the goal line. That was ART U's second shot that was thwarted by the crossbar as three minutes earlier, senior defender Ricardo "Ricky" Mendoza's attempt flew just an inch too high.
 
"The general play from the team was much better from half time on," said head coach Mike Keller. "That led to more momentum and chances for our guys to win balls in the back line and get forward."
 
Heading into the first overtime, it was the Urban Knights who once again showed their dominance on both sides of the ball. Although unable to score in the period, Academy of Art put together three shots while holding UH Hilo to zero.
 
Once the teams headed to the second overtime, it did not take long for the match to be decided. ART U took possession of the ball after two minutes of play and drove down the field. Junior forward Alex Walsh and Navarro were running in tandem when Walsh took a shot from five yards out. The ball slammed into the crossbar and ricocheted in front of Navarro's feet who kicked it opposite of the Vulcans' diving goalie, putting the game-winner in the back of the net. The team immediately swarmed the Fresno native after scoring his first goal in an Urban Knight uniform.
 
"Jonny definitely had some great contributions today and it was good to see him tuck that goal away today," said Keller. "Every day he gets more involved and is showing signs of real impact for us."
 
Academy of Art will look to keep their momentum going as they close out their homestand on Monday when Chaminade visits Beach Chalet at 10:30 a.m.