SAN FRANCISCO – Led by a large collection of talented returners, Academy of Art University Men's Soccer confidently enters into its 2018 season this week. First-year head coach Alex Yi brings a wealth of experience as he helps the program usher its next chapter.

Beginning with two road matches at SF State (Aug. 30) and Cal State Monterey Bay (Sept. 1), ART U embarks upon an 18-match regular season schedule that will feature 12 PacWest Conference contests. For a more in-depth look at the 2018 Urban Knights' schedule, click here!

The senior class is composed of an experienced defensive contingent in goalkeeper Kevin Mendez, defender Connor Henrichs, defender/midfielder David Sigurdarson, and defender Christian "Tate" Sprague. Between the group of four, the seniors carry a combined 13 years with the program.

Among the returning juniors will be forward Andrew Deans, midfielder Isiah Quiros, and forward Zak Kiser while ART U also adds incoming midfielder/forward Adrian Cekala from McKendree University in Illinois. Quiros and Kiser each had one game-winning goal in 2017 with Kiser's against William Jessup on Sept. 16 and Quiros' defeating Holy Names on Oct. 21.

Exclusively returners, the Knights' sophomores feature goalkeeper Kris Jensson, defenders Oliver Hadeen, Connor Lacey, and Mykal Mason as well as midfielders Jaret Gil and Jon Peregrina. In his first season in front of the net, Jensson established himself as one of the PacWest's top keepers, amassing the most saves out of any freshman and ranking in the top 10 the conference in saves, saves game, goals against average, and shutouts per game.

Continuing the strong Iceland presence on the team, four Nordic freshmen join the squad in 2018 including defender Logi Saemundsson, midfielder Gilli Kristjansson, forward Fannar Omarsson, and defender/midfielder Edvard Edvarsson. That quartet comes in alongside two other freshmen in midfielder/defender Timmy Langford and goalkeeper Davis King.

This Thursday, Academy of Art will step on to the pitch for its 11th season, poised to challenge greatness.