Season Statistics

The past four years have seen Academy of Art University men's soccer continue to fearlessly pioneer the ART U Athletics program each fall. This season was no different as the Urban Knights went 6-11 overall (4-8 in Pacific West Conference play) with highlights that included the continuation of a remarkable overtime win streak, a new program single-match scoring record, and the completion of six extraordinary Academy of Art careers.

“I felt good about the year,” head coach Daniel Rosaia said. “We had some close games that could have gone either way. Starting with that 1-0 defeat at Sonoma State, for example, we felt like we were pretty close and [SSU] ended up having a great year. Overall, I thought the guys played well and gave a lot of effort; they just had a little bit of bad luck in some of the matches.”

After the season kicked off on Sept. 1 with the aforementioned Sonoma State contest in which the Knights held the 2010 CCAA Champion Seawolves scoreless for 73 minutes, ART U traveled to Idaho for a pair of matches. The highlight of the trip was a 2-1 overtime victory against the College of Idaho (Sept. 5) which extended Academy of Art's OT win streak to six dating back to September 2010. Led by a game-winning goal from junior forward Grimur Grimsson on this occasion, the Urban Knights came out on top in the 95th minute.

Back at home in San Francisco three days later on Sept. 8, the Knights were in yet another dogfight versus local rival Menlo College. The teams fought through cold and overcast conditions, needing two extra periods to settle the battle. In the end, the Oaks took a 1-0 victory, though ART U continued to show its relentless effort on the soccer field, keeping its first four matches all close throughout. After opening Pacific West Conference play with tough losses at Cal Baptist (Sept. 17), home against Hawaii Pacific (Sept. 20), and at Dixie State (Sept. 23), Academy of Art men's soccer broke through to start October.

The first day of the new month saw the Urban Knights trounce Chaminade 3-0 on a day where sophomore midfielder Patrick Heinemann, freshman forward Frederik Nagel, and Grimsson all contributed goals. Back after an early season injury, junior goalkeeper Ian Sutherland notched his first shutout of the year in that contest at Boxer Stadium. The success continued with an incredibly dramatic win at Notre Dame de Namur on Oct. 6. NDNU held a 1-0 advantage heading into the final minute of regulation and appeared to have the victory practically sewn up when Grimsson struck like lightning. Senior captain and fellow Icelandic countryman Vilmundur Sveinsson sent the ball to Grimsson on the left side for a game-tying putaway in the 89th minute. The eyes of the noticeably stunned Argonauts crowd widened even further when Heinemann found Nagel in the 97th minute for the final blow in a 2-1 ART U comeback victory.

“The comeback win against Notre Dame was a huge day for us,” Coach Rosaia said. “At that time, we were still finding ourselves, but it was a big rival game and since we had beaten them the year before, the guys felt a lot of pressure to perform. Coming from behind was big and the team had that 'never give up' attitude the whole way though so I was proud of the guys for embodying what we're trying to build here at Academy of Art.”

Though Notre Dame de Namur later split the season series with a 1-0 win, Academy of Art was not finished achieving the unthinkable in 2011. On Oct. 15, the Knights logged their third victory in four outings with a new program-record six goals in a single match at Dominican. ART U lit up the Penguins  as a variety of players got in on the act including senior midfielder Andrew "Boomer" Cruz, sophomore forward Leonardo Bartelle (who scored twice), Heinemann, sophomore forward Aron Ekberg, and freshman forward Davis Smith. The match was not without drama after a late push by DUC made the final score 6-4, but another milestone win had been emblazoned in the Academy of Art University record books that day in San Rafael.

“I thought the game against Dominican was a great moment for the program,” Coach Rosaia said. “The guys felt good as a team and things were happening for us. It was a positive day for the Urban Knights in terms of understanding there are no limitations on what we could accomplish.”

Up against a dangerous Grand Canyon team who just barely missed out on a 2011 NCAA Tournament berth, the Urban Knights sustained a pair of defeats before returning to Boxer Stadium for a home match against BYU-Hawaii on Oct. 26. Though that match may have ended in the Seasiders' favor 4-3, something far more valuable was shown by ART U: heart. Persevering for over 50 minutes with just nine players on the field, Academy of Art made this close, hard-fought match one to remember.

“Everybody who knows my coaching style knows that fitness and discipline are keys to success,” Coach Rosaia said. “We constantly work on that year round. In games where you might not be as tactically as strong or as talented, you make up for that in heart. As the team knows, my coaching philosophy follows the Three Ds: Determination, Dedication, and Desire. And I think we've predicated most of season on that. Against BYU-Hawaii, for example, we played over a half of that match a man down and we felt like we won the game even if it wasn't in terms of goals. I continue to believe in fitness and I think it's paying off for us.”

Building off that inspired effort, the Urban Knights went on to win two out of their final three matches to close out the season. ART U began the home stretch with a 4-0 domination of Pacific Union on Oct. 28 in which Cruz scored what would be the game-winning goal in the 12th minute and the trio of Heinemann, Bartelle, and freshman defender Phillip Durner followed suit with goals. Though Dominican won Academy of Art's penultimate match, the Knights seniors, Sveinsson, Cruz, Juan Zurita, Richard Martin, Richard Luna, and Daniel Waller, ended their respective careers on a memorable note in a 3-0 win over Hawaii-Hilo on Senior Day (Nov. 6). And a soon-to-be senior, Grimur Grimsson, scored the second hat trick in program history to send Academy of Art home victorious.

“Winning two of the last three games this season definitely gave us momentum heading into the spring,” Coach Rosaia. “It was a lot like the end of last season and we had a strong spring after that. Finishing strong gives a little character to the team and that gets them excited to move forward.”

When it came time to deal out post-season PacWest honors, three Urban Knights had their names called. Sveinsson, Cruz, and Grimsson all received recognition from the conference for major contributions in 2011. Sveinsson, an All-PacWest Second Team recipient, concluded his career having been known as an outstanding defender, but also demonstrated his ability to produce offensively in his four years as ART U's captain. He helped guide the Academy of Art defense to three shutouts this past season, and during his career, took part in three game-winning goals, scoring two and assisting one. Sveinsson also stands alone as the career leader in matches started (62) and minutes played (4,378).

“Vimmi has been a four-year captain and he's been the heart and soul for us,” Coach Rosaia said. “We're happy for him and it's a great step for the program. I couldn't be happier for Vimmi to be in that position.”

Cruz earned 2011 Honorable Mention among midfielders and, in addition to his success this past season (two assists in the finale, three goals overall including a game-winner), he will be long remembered for achieving both a PacWest and Academy of Art milestone in 2010. The transfer from Division I Cal Poly, who came to study as an advertiser, scored five goals in a single game at Chaminade on Sept. 29, 2010, becoming the first men's soccer player in PacWest history to ever do so.

“Boomer is a great kid and still holds that PacWest record for most goals in single game,” Coach Rosaia said. “We're hoping that lasts a while. He has worked hard on this team for the last three years and having kids like that can only be good. If we can land more kids like Boomer, we'll be going in a positive direction.”

Finally, as a men's soccer player who looks to carry the torch going forward, Grimsson captured a 2011 Honorable Mention among forwards. The junior ranked sixth in the PacWest in both goals (7) and goals per game (0.50) as well as posting the seventh-most points per game (1.00). Following a year where he scored two game-winners and a hat trick, Grimsson earned the distinction of becoming ART U's career goals leader (12) and game-winning goals leader (6).

“Grimur has been a solid player for us for two years and has always gotten big goals when we needed them,” Coach Rosaia said. “We're looking forward to him having a good senior year next season.”

With the completion of its fourth year as a program, Academy of Art University men's soccer has progressed by leaps and bounds. Now having bid farewell to five of its 2008 originators, ART U will look to conquer new ground if all goes according to plan with the department's full membership in the NCAA this July.

“The future is very bright for Urban Knight Men's Soccer,” Coach Rosaia said. “We're continuing to build off what we have done over the previous years so that is very positive. We can only get better and we'll set our goals a little higher to make it to that next level. We're hoping to be post-season eligible next year so we'll be looking to make run in the playoffs as soon as possible.”