After bidding farewell to a large senior class at the end of its 2011 campaign, the Academy of Art University men's soccer team returns in 2012 loaded with fresh talent. A Pacific West Conference Championship remains at the forefront of the Urban Knights' minds, but after becoming full-fledged members of the NCAA this past July, ART U also has a chance to do one better and reach the Division II postseason. Head coach Daniel Rosaia, the longest tenured coach at Academy of Art University, returns for his fifth season ready to lead his team to victory.

“The theme is to be successful as a squad and as a program,” head coach Daniel Rosaia said. “It's going to be an interesting year for ART U Men's Soccer because we have goals in mind such as winning [a PacWest Championship], making the playoffs, and looking for our first All-American which we're eligible for now. We had our big team meeting where we set our goals and of course everybody is pretty excited.”

The 2012 schedule for Academy of Art University has the Knights on the road for their first two matches (at Cal Poly Pomona on Aug. 30 and at UC San Diego on Sept. 1). ART U will then look to start off a lengthy September homestand with a “Kickoff Into The NCAA” event on Sept. 5 against local rival San Francisco State under the lights at Kezar Stadium. Click here for details.


Soon in the midst of PacWest play, the Urban Knights will face more local rivals in Notre Dame de Namur and Dominican along with Dixie State, Grand Canyon, and California Baptist. They will also meet the four new schools entering the conference and ultimately conclude the regular season with a three-match roadtrip through Hawaii. For a more in-depth look at the 2012 Academy of Art University men's soccer schedule, click here.

Regardless of the possibility of post-season play, Coach Rosaia is determined to see ART U men's soccer build upon the already strong foundation that has come from the previous four seasons.

“Competition is competition,” Coach Rosaia said. “We're preparing the same way we have the past four years. We're just five years into the program now and we have a little bit better talent. We've landed a few guys who other schools were looking for so our recruiting process is getting better each year as we get more well-known. The fact that we're NCAA official now will lure some guys our way as we can compete for national championships and have All-Americans.”

The 2012 Urban Knights will feature three seniors, forward Grimur Grimsson, midfielder Brazer Bozlak, and goalkeeper Ian Sutherland, who all look to close out their careers with a successful run as part of this team. Grimsson, a 2011 All-PacWest Team Honorable Mention among forwards, led the squad last season with seven goals including two game-winners and a hat trick in the final match. Bozlak, who has put in solid work in the ART U midfield since coming in as a freshman in 2009, has either scored or assisted one game-winning goal in each of his seasons.

"This last year we actually graduated six student-athletes which is tremendous for our soccer program,” Coach Rosaia said. “It was our first full four-year course of kids graduating so I had to really go out and recruit. We have a good core coming back including Ian Sutherland, our senior goalkeeper who is one of the captains of our squad, and Andrew Durano, another captain who is a junior. We have a very talented team and a little bit of depth this year which has been missing in the past.”

Sutherland, Capital One Academic All-District Team in 2011, has been a stalwart for Academy of Art University in goal throughout his ART U career. He enters his senior year with the most saves (157), shutouts (7), and wins (13) of any Urban Knight in program history. The humble keeper is excitedly anticipating the start of this 2012 campaign.

“We've got a good team this year and we're hoping to improve upon last year particularly in the [PacWest Conference],” Sutherland said. “[Getting into the NCAA] definitely gives us something to strive for because we can actually get [to the postseason]. I just want to help the team out in any way I can. We've come a long way from my first year.”

A large junior class includes Garret Spenst, Carlos Hernandez, Patrick Heinemann, Aron Ekberg, Leonardo Bartelle, Luis Barrera and the aforementioned Durano. As one of three captains and a selfless midfielder who has amassed eight assists in his career thus far, Durano understands the importance of team unity particularly with a large influx of new teammates.

“First and foremost, [our goal] is to come together quickly,” Durano said. “We want everybody to be on the same page with learning our game plan and focusing on ourselves so that we can move forward as a team.”

Over half the 2012 squad is either a sophomore or freshman, though all carry strong soccer backgrounds. Sophomores include Thorvaldur Sveinsson, Jonmundur Gretarsson, Frederik Nagel, Eric Bui, and Brady Fiero. The freshmen joining the team will be Carson Condon, Lennart Fleshhut, Jesus “Chava” Sanchez, Sean Lenz, Sebastian Zuniga, Kristof Urbanyi, and Vincent Rodrigues. Highly touted local prospects such as Sanchez and Zuniga coupled with the international flare of individuals such as Sveinsson and Urbanyi should make it a dangerous future for ART U's opposition.

“We have three seniors this year so we're a young team, but we had a very strong recruiting class so that makes a difference,” Coach Rosaia said. “We brought in a few kids who are pretty experienced and we also have some young freshmen who are ready to go to battle.”