Box Score

Photo Gallery (images by Kier LaCrosse)

San Rafael, CA -- The Academy of Art University offense simply exploded Saturday afternoon. ART U men's soccer unloaded six goals including two from sophomore forward Leonardo Bartelle for a 6-4 victory over the Penguins at Forest Meadows Soccer Field. The performance surpassed the Urban Knights' previous scoring record set last year when they topped Chaminade 5-0.

“It was a good day for the guys,” Head Coach Daniel Rosaia said. “The team started out playing well and we just had a little bit of trouble finishing strong, but this was a proud day for the program. Vilmmi played an outstanding game, Patrick played a great, and I thought Boomer really controlled the tempo of the game today.”

Similarly to Academy of Art's match against the Silverswords earlier this month on Oct. 1, the Urban Knights were on the scoreboard before four minutes had ticked off the first half clock. Senior forward Andrew "Boomer" Cruz attempted the game's first shot following a Dominican foul in the 3rd minute and buried a goal off a pass from sophomore midfielder Patrick Heinemann. The quick 1-0 advantage then became 2-0 in the 11th minute when Heinemann sent the ball to Bartelle for a score from the midfield.

An exciting afternoon had only just begun as ART U found the back of the net again in the 23rd minute. This time it was Heinemann himself who did the scoring with an unassisted goal. For all the offense by the Knights, junior goalkeeper Ian Sutherland was working hard between the pipes throughout the opening period. He had five saves despite allowing a goal to Dominican in the 25th minute credited to Cory Vanderpool.

As halftime approached, it appeared Academy of Art would hold its 3-1 advantage at the break, but Bartelle struck again for a goal to the top right corner in the 34th minute. Now up 4-1, ART U would look to hold on for another 45 minutes of action. The Knights' lead grew to 5-1 when sophomore midfielder Andrew Durano set up sophomore forward Aron Ekberg with 58:23 on the clock. Dominican would get one goal back in the 76th minute as Nuri Bon-Acosta was sent the ball from passes by Andrew Vu and Mfonabasi Ikpe for the score.

A flurry of goals then came in the final three minutes. Freshman forward Davis Smith collected his first goal of the year with a shot that went in off the post during the 87th minute.  Dominican did score twice more before the final buzzer sounded, but when the dust had settled, it was ART U earning a 6-4 win, the team's third PacWest victory of the year.

“It was a complete team effort because you know everyone had to play their butts off to get a bunch of scores like that,” Coach Rosaia said. “They were all on the same page today. I thought Daniel Waller played well for us when he was in and Richard Luna played a heck of a game at center mid.”

Bartelle became the eighth Urban Knight ever to score at least two goals in a game and the second this season after junior forward Grimur Grimsson did it against College of Idaho on Sept. 5. The seven shots by Bartelle in Saturday's match tie him for the third-most in Academy of Art history.

In addition to scoring a goal of his own, Heinemann added two assists which he did for the second time in his ART U career (the first time was at CUH on Sept. 29, 2010). Goals also came from Cruz, Ekberg, and Smith for Academy of Art in the 17 shot outburst. Durano added his second assist of the season as well. Sutherland was in the ART U goal for 90 minutes and amassed a career-high nine saves in that time. His defensive effort had been unmatched since Jose Herrera reached nine saves in 2008. Academy of Art moves up to 4-7 overall, 3-4 in PacWest play.

“Ian played great and he's been very consistent for us,” Coach Rosaia said. “He's been probably our best all-around player because of his consistency and he's playing hard for us now that he has been able to play regularly.”

A four-goal afternoon for Dominican saw scores by Vanderpool, Bon-Acosta, Vu, and Goldschmidt.  Goalkeeper Erik Anderson allowed six goals with five saves in 90 minutes on the field. The Penguins are now 2-10 overall, 1-6 in the PacWest.

“We're hoping to carry this momentum into our next few games,” Coach Rosaia said. “The team has three wins in our last four games so it looks like the guys are gaining a little momentum and we just want to keep it going.”

ART U will remain on the road for its next two contests, both against Grand Canyon, which come Thursday, Oct. 20 and Saturday, Oct. 22. The first match is scheduled for 8:00 PM and the Saturday contest is set for 2:30 PM with both following the women's pairings.