SAN FRANCISCO – Though Academy of Art men's soccer generated more shots than Dominican during their Pacific West Conference clash on Sunday, ART U could not match a pair of first half goals that ultimately pushed DU to a 3-0 win during the opening leg of the inaugural Bay Area Clásico Cup.

While each side found potential scoring opportunities, it was the Urban Knights (3-8-3, 0-5-1 PacWest) who nearly had the first tally, threatening with a pair of looks on consecutive shots from redshirt freshman midfielder Elvis Mensah and freshman forward Nixon Thompson in the eighth minute. Scrambling to make the saves was the Penguins' (9-4-0, 5-1-0 PacWest) goalkeeper Alejandro Reyes, as he was there to deny ART U when the Knights put each of their first five scoring chances on the goal frame. 
 
Coming back the other way, Dominican made the most of their four chances in the first half, getting a pair of goals with the first coming in the 25th minute. A passing play out to the left wing set up a cross into the box, where Jesus Duran was waiting to bury the opportunity for what would eventually be DU game-winning goal with two assists credited on the play.

Moments later, the Penguins grabbed a bit of insurance when Eddie Silverbush was the beneficiary of a misplayed ball by the ART U goalkeeper, doubling the lead to 2-0 in the 37th minute. Despite another three shots from Academy of Art to get their first-half total to eight, the Knights were turned away at every opportunity.

Play was more balanced during the second 45 minutes, with each team taking seven shots and ending the match with eight shots on goal. Despite the back-and-forth action, it took until the half was nearly over for Dominican to put a third goal on the board during the 90th minute, getting one final tally Lexi Bernier. 

Eight different Urban Knights were responsible or at least one shot during the match led by the four from junior midfielder Gilly Miller, though Mensah was tops on the team in shots on goal as he put all three of his attempts on target. After being held off the scoresheet, coming to an end were the respective game point streaks for both Mensah and Miller, as Mensah has scored in five straight games while Miller had done so in three. Also taking three shots during the match was senior midfielder Breki Einarsson.

Academy of Art concludes its portion of the Bay Area Clásico Cup they return to the pitch a week from today on Sunday, Oct. 23 to battle Holy Names is at 1:15 p.m.