SAN FRANCISCO – An intense battle from both squads ended with no scores as a 0-0 tie emerged from Saturday's non-conference pairing of Academy of Art men's soccer and Cal State East Bay at CCSF Soccer Field.

The Pioneers (1-0-1) outshot the Urban Knights (0-1-1) by a wide margin with 20 shots of their own, six on target, while ART U got six off total with four on goal. Leon Eisert of East Bay fired the first shot of the match off in just the fourth minute yet sophomore goalkeeper Jaiden Brooks calmly brought the ball in for his first of what would be six saves. 

The next real chance of a score came from ART U in the 12th minute as junior defender Chris Stokes got a solid header on goal from a corner kick. It was looking as if the ball would find its way to the back of the net as it got past the CSUEB goalkeeper, but with defenders guarding the back post, the visitors managed to tap the ball away, recording a team save. 

In the 30th minute, Cal State East Bay was awarded a penalty from a handball within the box by the Urban Knights. Aaron Farnan stepped up to take the shot looking for his third goal of the season, however, it would be spoiled by a Brooks save diving to his right and rocketing the ball away off the deflection. Halftime came soon after with both squads confident in their ability to come away with a victory.

The Pioneers took the strategy of firing away at any chance after halftime, giving them 20 by the day's end. The Knights took quality shots only when given the chance like senior midfielder Kendryx Soriano's strike in the 60th minute which looked like it had a real shot to go, but was inevitably blocked by a Pioneer defender and trickled past the goalkeeper just outside of the left post. 

It wasn't until the 70th minute that the game started to pick up and the real intensity started to rise. The defensive intensity heightened as the minutes waned and the 0-0 deadlock was held firm throughout this time as neither team managed to find the back of the net in regulation.

ART U will look for its first win next week at home on Thursday, Sept. 7 when the Urban Knights host Dominican in non-conference play at 1 p.m. from Paul Goode Field.