MATCH #7
Hawaii Pacific (2-3-1, 0-0 PacWest) at Academy of Art (2-4, 0-0 PacWest)
Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014, at 11 a.m. PDT
San Francisco, CA — Crocker Amazon Park
LIVE VIDEO/STATS
 
MATCH #8
Hawaii-Hilo (2-2-1, 0-0 PacWest) at Academy of Art (2-4, 0-0 PacWest)
Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, at 1 p.m. PDT
San Francisco, CA — CCSF
LIVE STATS ONLY
 
San Francisco, CA — Coming off a hard-fought, full team effort victory Saturday to close the non-conference season, the Academy of Art University men's soccer team now turns its attention to PacWest play, which opens this week with two matches at home.
 
Hawaii Pacific (2-3-1, 0-0 PacWest) and Hawaii-Hilo (2-2-1, 0-0 PacWest) will both visit The City this week. Thursday the Sharks kickoff against the Urban Knights (2-4, 0-0 PacWest) at 11 a.m. at Crocker Amazon Park. Saturday the Vulcans visit CCSF for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
 
ART U defeated visiting Cal State Stanislaus Saturday 2-1 despite playing a man down for 77 1/2 minutes. Goals from Thobbi Sveinsson and Alexander Tombach helped the Knights snap a three-game losing streak and build momentum heading into conference play. 
ABOUT HAWAII PACIFIC
The Sharks (2-3-1, 0-0 PacWest) dropped under .500 for the first time this season Tuesday with a 2-1 loss at Sonoma State in their first match in 10 days. HPU is 0-3-1 in its last four matches after starting the season 2-0 by outscoring Chaminade and BYU-Hawaii in non-conference games by a combined score of 6-1.
 
Brais Garcia is Hawaii Pacific's leading scorer with eight points (4 goals) this season. He shared PacWest Player of the Week honors with ART U's Malcolm McLellan on Sept. 8 after both players had six-point weeks from Sept. 1-7. Erik Kemsies leads the team with three assists, while goalkeeper Eduardo Palacios has recorded a 1.34 goals against average with 15 saves in 470 minutes minding the net.
 
ABOUT HAWAII-HILO
The Vulcans (2-2-1) have an even record after kicking off 2014 with back-to-back losses. Hawaii-Hilo defeated Hawaii Pacific 3-1 (Sept. 13) and Chaminade 2-1 (Sept. 15) in non-conference action and earned a 2-2 draw at Cal State East Bay on Tuesday in its final non-conference match before beginning PacWest play.
 
Mike Reckmeyer leads the Vulcans in points (8) and goals (4), while Jamie Sporcic is the team's leading assists man with two. Four different players have scored this season for Hawaii Hilo, three of which already have multiple scores. The Vulcans have split goalkeeping duties so far between Erick Lemus and Tyler Hoffman. The duo has combined for 26 saves and a 1.71 goals against average.
 
TOMBACH NAMED PACWEST FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Freshman midfielder Alexander Tombach's game-winning efforts Saturday versus Cal State Stanislaus not only helped the Academy of Art University men's soccer team snap a three-game losing streak, but also earned him PacWest Conference Freshman of the Week honors, as announced by the conference office Monday.
 
Tombach scored the first goal of his career in the 40th minute Saturday against the Warriors to put the Urban Knights up 2-0 despite playing a man down at the time. A concise triangle passing pattern on the attack started with senior midfielder Carlos Hernandez, who passed it to Frederik Nagel at the top of the box. Nagel then sent it over to the right to Tombach, who finished with a strong shot. Tombach's goal would later serve as the game-winner after Cal State Stanislaus earned one back in the 70th minute.
 
AMONG THE BEST
Junior midfielder Malcolm McLellan has taken advantage of his new role on offensive, constantly putting himself in the mix. He has already tallied four assists this season, good for 13th in the nation. His assists per game (0.67) are also ranked No. 23 in the country.