SAN FRANCISCO – Trailing by a pair of goals and needing a comeback effort on Sunday, Academy of Art men's soccer turned up the pressure in the second half but it ultimately wasn't enough to overcome Hawaii Pacific in Pacific West Conference action, falling to HPU 2-0. 

It was a quick start to the contest as the two teams combined for six shots in the first 15 minutes, but the seventh shot in the 17th would be the one to break through for HPU. Dennis Dinyer dribbled his way down the field into the box, where he was able to change direction and play a centering pass for Sebastian Navarro who finished to the right side of the goal. The tally would lead to the Sharks controlling the action, which would produce another score after an errant clearance from the Urban Knights (0-12-1, 0-8-0 PacWest) resulted in a tap-in goal for Steven Avizar in the 40th minute. 

ART U would turn things around during the second frame, launching seven shots with four of them making it on goal. Helping drive the offense was the duo of senior forward Adrian Cekala and sophomore midfielder Gilly Miller, with Cekala producing two shots on frame early in the half to get the offense moving while Miller followed shortly after with one of his own. Pitching in the other was freshman defender Bilal Mihoubi, who darted around the field and put a shot on frame that forced a nice save by HPU keeper Jeremy Zielinski. Later on, both Mihoubi and Cekala would wind up with a two-on-one chance breaking in toward the goal, but the pass back from Mihoubi to Cekala could not find its mark. 

Making five saves in the second frame was freshman keeper Omer Tal who kept the Knights within striking distance as they searched for the equalizer. Tal would finish with six saves overall, the third time this season with at least six saves, and the second time in the last two matches after making seven against Fresno Pacific on Oct. 16. Also chipping in a pair of chances was junior midfielder Edvard Edvardsson, with one of his chances just sailing over the top of the goal frame.

Next time out is the final home match of the season for ART U, as the Knights will have senior day on Nov. 4 starting at 1 p.m. after honoring this year's seniors with a pregame ceremony.