MONMOUTH, Ore. -- A pair of goals, including the second in as many games by senior midfielder Alice Michell, highlighted the final game of ART U's first road trip of 2018. The Urban Knights would concede an early goal to the Wolves, but were able to play from behind and take the lead late in the second half to defeat Western Oregon University 2-1.

"We had started to set some real expectations for ourselves before we left for this road-trip," said head coach Chris King. "Being able to battle for two wins and coming from behind today solidified the belief that we are a different team who is ready to take strides forward as a program."

In the first half of play ART U would suffer an early goal in the 18th minute on a corner kick. WOU crossed the ball to the center of the box initiating a scramble, one side trying to clear the ball, the other hoping to find the net. The scramble ended when Alexie Morris put a shot just beyond the reach of diving senior goalkeeper Morgan Wirz to put the wolves up 1-0.

Just six minutes later the WOU offense put a shot on goal and Wirz made a fantastic diving save to steal a goal from Western Oregon. The Urban Knights would take three shots in the half, one on goal from the foot of Michell who ripped a shot from just outside the box straight into the hands of the goalkeeper in the 33rd minute. ART U would head into halftime down 1-0.

Determined to put themselves back in the game, ART U came out aggressively in the second half and it paid off with an Urban Knights goal in the 50th minute. Freshman forward Baylie Christensen dribbled down the left line and made a solid cross directly to Michell whose outstanding hit drove the ball into the back left corner of the net to tie the game 1-1. This shot gave the Minnesota native a goal in back-to-back games and the team lead in goals scored.

In the 77th minute of play the tie was broken. Michell made a perfect cross that was bounced around among defenders before senior midfielder Silvia Fernstrom struck the ball to the back right corner for the go-ahead goal. This was Fernstrom's first goal of the year and second of her career.

"The team is starting to really gel," said coach King. "The way that they were willing to fight for each other in the second half says a lot about the kind of people we have in this group."

The Urban Knights would continue their solid defensive play to hang on and crystallize their come from behind victory by a final score of 2-1.

Fernstrom may have expressed the feeling of the entire team about the come-from-behind performance, "Even though they scored early in the game, we never stopped battling to get the ball in the back of the net. The team really pulled together to get the win in the end."

This is the first time in two years the Urban Knights have won back to back games. With this win, Academy of Art has already broken their win total from the 2016 and 2017 campaigns.

ART U will return from their successful road-trip for their first homestand of the 2018 season to take on William Jessup Sept. 11 at 1 p.m. at Paul Goode Field.

"We are very much looking forward to a tough week ahead," stated coach King. "We are going to work hard to get results."