SAN FRANCISCO – Dominant on both sides of the ball from start to finish, Academy of Art men's soccer outlasted Holy Names on Saturday by the score of 2-1.
 
In the first half of action, the Urban Knights did well to hold back the Hawks in what would become a largely defensive opening period. ART U held HNU to just one shot which came in the 22nd-minute while the Knights took a total of three themselves.
 
It was in the second half when the events of the match began to accelerate: both sides combined for 10 shots in the first 20 minutes which culminated with a goal from junior midfielder Bobby Gutierrez. Off of a throw-in, the ball rattled around, eventually ricocheting off of an HNU defender to land at the feet of Gutierrez. The Riverside, Calif native's shot from 25 yards out managed to find the back-left corner of the net to give Academy of Art a 1-0 lead. Then, less than seven minutes later, ART U put their second goal on the board thanks to sophomore midfielder Isiah Quiros. From the top of the box in the midst of a scrum, Quiros was able to send a clean shot towards the net which did not miss its mark.
 
Now with a two-goal advantage, the Urban Knights needed only to hunker down to hold their lead in the remaining 18 minutes. However, with just eight minutes to play, Holy Names managed to slip one through ART U's defense to make it a 2-1 game. Despite seeing two more HNU corner kicks, Academy of Art did not allow another shot and the Urban Knights held on for the 2-1 win.

 
Overall, the Knights outshot the Hawks 11-6 while Quiros led the team, tying his career-high with five shots. In addition, both Gutierrez and senior forward Alex Walsh contributed a pair of shots each.  
 
With the win, Academy of Art improves to 4-8-1 overall and 3-5 in the PacWest. Furthermore, ART U has now posted a 2-1 record against all Bay Area PacWest foes (Holy Names, Dominican, and Notre Dame de Namur). This is the first time that the Urban Knights have posted a winning record against said teams since 2014 and the third time overall in the program's 10-year history.
 
Academy of Art now heads on their final road trip of the season, taking on two of the top teams in the PacWest: third place and No. 5-ranked California Baptist and seventh-place Azusa Pacific.