SAN FRANCISCO -- Academy of Art and Fresno Pacific battled in a non-conference rematch that featured ART U's season high in goals, career firsts, and a dramatic overtime finish in Saturday's shootout at CCSF Soccer Field.

FPU got on the board early when Anthony Velarde, PacWest preseason player of the year, scored his sixth goal of the season in the fifth minute of play. It did not take long for Academy of Art to equalize when in the 19th minute freshman Gilli Kristjansson dribbled to space inside the right side of the box and ripped a shot to the top left corner for the first collegiate goal of his career. Sophomore defender Oliver Hadeen claimed the assist on the goal.  

"When I hit the ball I knew right away that it was going in the top left corner," said Kristjansson. "I ran straight to the bench to celebrate."
  In the first half ART U took a respectable eight shots while defending against ten from FPU two of which resulted in saves by sophomore goalkeeper Kris Jensson to keep the score tied 1-1 at the end of the period.

The Sunbirds added their second goal of the match in the 61st minute on a crossed in header by Jose Segura. But the Knights continued to prove they would not go quietly and struck again in the 77th minute when junior Adrian Cekala placed a free kick perfectly in the back left corner of the net for his team leading second goal of the season.

The back and forth battle continued as FPU collected their third goal in the 84th minute to go ahead 3-2. As the minutes dwindled Academy of Art would not quit and in the 88th minute their determination paid off when midfielder Andrew Deans chested a ball from Hadeen to his feet and sunk it in the middle of the net to tie the game 3-3 forcing overtime. 

The game's pattern continued and the Sunbirds claimed the golden goal in the 99th minute to cut ART U's comeback short.

The three goals sets a season high for the Urban Knights. In fact the last time Academy of Art had a three goal game was almost three years ago on Oct. 24, 2015 against Azusa Pacific.

The tough overtime loss drops Academy of Art's record to 1-8-1 overall, while their PacWest record remains 0-4-1. The Urban Knights continue their non-conference set with Notre Dame de Namur Wednesday Oct. 10 at 3 p.m.