SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Looking to close out the 2021 season on a winning note, Academy of Art men's soccer did just that thanks to three first half goals, ultimately holding on for a 3-2 Pacific West Conference win over Dominican on Thursday.
Scoring came early and often for the Urban Knights (2-12-1, 2-8-0 PacWest), riding three goals within the first 36 minutes of play to their second consecutive victory, beginning with junior midfielder
Breki Einarsson in the ninth minute. As the Penguins (7-6-3, 2-6-2 PacWest) went to make a tackle on their own end, Einarsson was there to collect the ball and continue the attack, unleashing a shot to the back post that beat the goalkeeper for the early lead.
Dominican would find an equalizer in the 20th minute from the head of Cameron Bacca, but ART U quickly responded in the 26th minute when sophomore midfielder
Gilly Miller took the ball through the middle of the field and into the attacking box, playing a pass to his left for fellow sophomore midfielder
Christian Schaffner who buried the first goal of his Urban Knights career.
Securing what would go on to be the game-winning goal was senior forward
Adrian Cekala in the 37th minute, setting some personal and ART U history in the process. Stepping up to take the penalty kick that the Knights earned after drawing a foul in the box, Cekala converted his fourth consecutive penalty kick attempt for his seventh strike of the fall, a new season-high for the forward. It was his sixth successful conversion in a row dating back to last season, making him the ART U all-time leader in the category (6-for-7; most attempts in program history). Ending his career with 21 goals (only 20-goal scorer in ART U history), this last was his fifth game-winning goal, putting him alone in third place at Academy of Art.
After the Knights dominated the shots by a 9-3 margin in the first half, the Penguins flipped the script in the second frame, but still could not complete the comeback effort. The deficit was cut to only one after a tally from DU's leading scorer Joe Blakely in the 64th minute, as he was the beneficiary of a tap-in goal after being set up from a Dominican passing play. However, Knights freshman goalkeeper
Omer Tal would come up big down the stretch, making three saves in the second period to preserve the ART U victory.
As they have been much all season, ART U shot leaders Cekala and Miller would each produce three attempts over the course of the match with two chances making it on target, joined in this match by Einarsson (also two shots on goal). It was the third time this season that the Knights had at least seven shots on goal.
Check
www.ARTUAthletics.com for all the latest ART U men's soccer news as the Urban Knights turn the page and look froward to the 2022 season.
