Box Score

Photo Gallery (images by Austin McKeon & Kier LaCrosse)

San Francisco, CA -- Less than two days after the Academy of Art men's soccer team played almost 120 scoreless minutes of soccer, it looked like it was the women's turn to head to overtime this Saturday on Treasure Island. Facing Dominican University (CA) in a rare non-conference matchup between the two teams, it took the Urban Knights 88 minutes but they finally found the back of the net to defeat the Lady Penguins 1-0.

"Today's win was a total team effort," said Head Coach Aileen Nasypany. "Even the players who might not have had the chance to step on the pitch helped prepare the starting line-up to play at the level we did today. Everyone fulfilled their roles, played with discipline and they put the ball in the back of the net when it mattered the most."

The patience to wait for openings and the intensity at the end of the game were essential to the ART U strategy against Dominican, and their ability to take advantage of the Penguin's mistakes led to the first win of 2011 for the Knights. In addition, freshman defender Sophie Meneses was a particularly significant defensive factor against DUC.

"I feel freshman Sophie Meneses had a standout performance defensively shutting down [Dominican's] leading offensive player, Julianna Bratsberg," said Coach Nasypany. "Bratsberg has two goals and two assists on the season thus far, all of which were instrumental in their wins over Sonoma State University and Western Washington University."

Dominican showed a lapse in judgment inside the two-minute mark with a foul in the penalty box, which resulted in a yellow card on the goalkeeper Megan Herring and a free kick for the Urban Knights. Sophomore forward Margaret Thorolfsdottir looked ready to take the free kick, but her instinct to defer to junior defender Jasmine Sharpe proved to be the deciding factor in the Knights victory.

After the whistle, Sharpe passed it to Thorolfsdottir at the right elbow who quickly turned around and punched it past Herring to left corner of the net. It was Thorolfsdottir's second shot of the match, and her sixth of the young season.

"I was going to take the free kick," said Thorolfsdottir, "But I realized that I wouldn't be able to score from that angle. So I decided to run at the ball and let Jazzy [Sharpe] take it, and I scored."

"What an exciting way to win a well fought match!" exclaimed Coach Nasypany. "A fantastic triple effort from our attack with the hustle by Hannah Emmett to draw the foul, the technical ability by Jasmine Sharpe to play the perfect ball, and the composure from Margret Thorolfsdottir to score under pressure."

It was a game of firsts for the Urban Knights, who had been held scoreless in their first two matches against Cal State San Bernadino and Minot State. Thorolfsdottir notched her first goal of the year, Sharpe with her first assist, and first-year starter at goalkeeper Jessica Bibby earned her first clean sheet of 2011 with 90 scoreless minutes in goal.

"Everyone had to stay focused," said Bibby. "In our last two games, everyone just kind of lost focus and that's when we got scored on, but this time we all stayed focused and tight and we know we worked hard all game. We weren't going to go easy on them and we won the game."

Bibby mentioned the "Focus Five" drill, a drill that Head Coach Aileen Nasypany had been stressing all week in practice. In this drill, the Urban Knights would work in both getting off to a good start, going hard at the first five minutes of the first and second half, and finishing strong under pressure, holding the line for the last five minutes of each half.

After a slow first half, that drill manifested itself in the game situation, as ART U got two prime scoring chances in the last five minutes of the first half, including a shot on goal by Hannah Emmett followed by an Emmett cross that was just out of reach for Emi Sullivan.

"Jessica Bibby gave a much more solid performance today, especially key during the 20 minutes that Domincan was pressing us hard in the second half," said Coach Nasypany. "Bibby came up with a few key saves that gave the team the confidence to all keep battling."

Bibby had to fend off shots in bunches from Dominican as they kept pounding the ball to their star midfielder Juliannna Bratsberg, who was held in check by a solid team defensive effort for the Urban Knights. The Penguins had their chances, including three corner kicks in a span of two minutes, but Bibby was there every time to turn them away.

"You have so much pressure on you [as goalkeeper]," said Bibby about the last few minutes after the ART U goal. "It's so much a mental thing. I just took it minute by minute. I knew we scored but I wasn't thinking about it. I was just making sure that I didn't let anything in the net."

Both teams pushed through a technical error with the scoreboard in the final minute, and had to be notified about the clock over the PA system to finish off the game. The countdown seemed fitting for the Knights to celebrate their first victory of the year, as Bibby punched one last-ditch shot by the Penguins in the final 15 seconds to seal the deal and bring a win back to San Francisco.

"I am very happy for my team," said Coach Nasypany. "They have been so dedicated and focused in their work ethic over the past few weeks. This win is a good reward and will help with their confidence as we head into conference play next Saturday. I look forward to having the week to prepare them for a more balance performance throughout the match."