BELMONT, Calif. – Academy of Art took an early, 1-0 lead in what would prove to be a back-and-forth battle with Notre Dame de Namur. However, just moments later, the Argonauts evened the score and added another goal in the second half to spoil ART U's PacWest opener 2-1.
 
The Urban Knights were held without a shot for the opening 25 minutes, but it did not matter as their first attempt at the net gave them the lead: junior midfielder Bobby Gutierrez sent in a long cross over the Argos's goalkeeper towards senior forward Alex Walsh who headed it in near the back post. It was the Preston, England native's first goal of the season and his first since October 14, 2015 against Fresno Pacific. However, the Knights' 1-0 advantage lasted, but 43 seconds: on NDNU's following attack, they were fouled in the box, setting up a penalty kick for Esteban Berumen. Despite a diving attempt by goalkeeper Kris Jensson, the freshman could not stop the ball from finding the back of the net. ART U managed to get off a pair of shots in the half's remaining 15 minutes, but both sides would eventually head to the locker rooms at halftime knotted at one goal apiece. Both sides posted similar numbers in the first set of 45 minutes with the Knights compiling five shots compared to the Argonauts' six.
 
12 minutes into the second period, Notre Dame de Namur managed to break the deadlock thanks to the Argos' Naia Graham. The goal propelled NDNU into the lead by a score of 2-1. In the remaining minutes, both defenses shut down their respective attacks as the rest of the match saw just three more combined shots (one on-goal).
 
Altogether, the Urban Knights compiled a total of six shots (three on-frame) during the match, with six different players each contributing a shot. Impressively, nearly the entire ART U squad worked the whole match as seven starters played all 90 minutes.
 
Academy of Art will now return home where they will prepare for Saturday's match when they host the Penguins of Dominican at 2:30 p.m.