BELMONT, Calif. – Academy of Art dropped a 2-1 decision to Notre Dame de Namur in their first PacWest conference matchup of the season at Koret Field on Thursday afternoon. The Urban Knights were tied a majority of the match, but a last minute goal by the Argos sent ART U home on a heartbreaker.
"The match was physical but I believe we were good," said head coach
Matt Martin. 'We had moments where if we take full advantage, we get the win. That said, we have to be honest and admit that we let down on the last goal, a corner kick that we need to do better on. It's never just one guy and the boys know this."
The Argonauts opened the scoring with a goal in the 21st minute off the foot of Josh Santilian, who received a cross from the left side of the field and finished for a 1-0 lead.
Sophomore midfielder
Breki Einarsson equalized for the Urban Knights in the 32nd minute with his first career goal. Einarsson received a well executed pass from junior forward
Adrian Cekala who flew past Argonaut defenders on ART U's quick counterattack to set up the goal. Einarsson put a solid strike on the ball with his left foot and drove the ball to the bottom right corner.
"We were sharp from the start on both sides of the ball," said Martin. "We gave away a goal on a counter attack, but we responded by immediately threatening goal, almost scoring within two minutes, and then scoring the equalizer about five minutes later."
From there, it was a back and forth battle with each team having opportunities on goal. It would be the Argonauts who found success in one. The minutes dwindled down and reached less than three as the match looked to be headed into overtime, but Moises Claudio found the back of the net for a 2-1 NDNU victory.
"We've see the incremental improvements against Chico State and Notre Dame," said Martin. "We will seal the deal when we play our next match these boys believe and the coaches believe."
Next up, Academy of Art continues their PacWest schedule against Azusa Pacific on Oct. 3 at Paul Goode Field.
