SAN FRANCISCO – Striking first and tallying more shots than their opponents in each half of the Pacific West Conference matchup was Academy of Art men's soccer, but a trio of goals from Fresno Pacific would eventually put the Urban Knights away with a 3-1 final score.

Freshman midfielder Keita Goto, the Knights' leader in points on the squad in 2024, was the first to score in the match after he received a ball in from redshirt freshman forward Audie Garza at the top of the box, and would send it towards the right post as it snuck into the net. Garza, who earned his first career point on his assist, additionally recorded the lead in shots in the opening frame for his team, as he got two off of ART U's seven. Also firing two shots towards the Sunbirds' net was junior forward Kristian Lonvig, but the lone goal from Goto was all the Knights would see before FPU tied it up in the 35th minute from Stephan Morris. Going into the break, the match was tied with a 1-1 score.

Despite Academy of Art's nine shots in the second half opposed to the Sunbirds' seven, it was FPU that watched as theirs found higher quality as two reached the back of the net. Striking first in the second half for the Sunbirds was Lucas Ribeiro, now with a share of the PacWest lead with his seventh of the season, as he got one to go towards the right corner in the 47th minute, while Bryan Lopez slotted his in the 64th for insurance. 

With the loss, ART U moved to 1-8-2 and 0-5-1 in the PacWest while Fresno improved to 3-4-5 overall and 2-3 in the conference. 

ART U is next taking a quick detour towards a non-conference match next as they are set to host Cal Maritime on Wednesday, Oct. 23 with a noon kickoff.