Box Score

Photo Gallery (images by Rob Garcia)

San Francisco, CA -- The Urban Knights have been riding a big wave of momentum since the summer when they were announced as official NCAA members. That good feeling hit a new high when the women's soccer team set a number of program records in a convincing 10-0 shutout of Mills College on Thursday afternoon at Crocker Amazon Field. Three ART U players had two goals apiece, and junior midfielder Hannah Emmett added to her program-record points total with a five-point day.

Since gaining full NCAA membership, the Academy of Art University athletic program has also added a new director of athletics in Kevin Price, welcomed in a huge crop of new artist-athletes from all over the world, and last night, showed their true colors in a thrilling last-minute win by the men's soccer team. The Knights (1-2) continued that push forward with their dominating win over the Cylcones, setting up shop on the offensive end of the ball and spreading around the scoring to blow by their previous scoring record of seven goals against Bethany University.

"Today was a great day for Academy of Art University women's soccer," said head coach Aileen Nasypany. "The whole team was out to support the men last night, and we were inspired by their stunning win and wanted to do our part in positively launching our way into the NCAA as well. I am continuously pushing our players outside their comfort zone in training. It was nice to see them starting to perform better as a group on the pitch, not just as talented individuals. I am very proud of their efforts."

Those efforts were spearheaded by the Urban Knights who had multi-point efforts. Emmett had two goals and an assist, while Louise Fillingham and Beth Barker added two goals each. Senior captain Jasmine Sharpe had a goal and two assists to also notch a four-point day, her first as an Urban Knight. Freshmen Rea Laudat, Makayla Hickman, and Carolina Salazar also got in on the scoring, each notching a goal.

There was a little shaking off of the rust early as the game started, with the Knights working hard to get on the same page but just not breaking through. That all changed in the 17th minute, when Sharpe found the newcomer Laudat, who dribbled through traffic and shot it right by Mills goalkeeper Devon Hill for the first goal of the game and her second of the year.

That was closely followed up by a goal from Makayla Hickman, who got the feed from Laudat and found herself with only Hill between her and the back of the net in the 18th minute. Three minutes later Hickman then followed Laudat's example and paid it forward, finding an open Fillingham in the middle who fired it from the top of the box and into the net. 

ART U added on with goals in the 36th minute (Sharpe, unassisted), 38th minute (Barker, unassisted), and 41st minute (Barker from Aiva Leff) to head into halftime with a sizable 6-0 lead. With one full half to go and the program scoring record of seven goals well within reach, it seemed only a matter of time for ART U to rewrite the record books.

That time came shortly after the break, as Sharpe took a corner-kick and Fillingham snuck it in the right post for her second goal of the day. Emmett, who currently sits atop the scoring charts in Urban Knights, added to that total with two consecutive goals to give her an even dozen in her career. The first game in the 69th minute when Jacquie Wallace found Emmett on the right corner of the box before the junior fired it inside the near post.

The second came off a feed from Hickman, this time in the 71st minute, who set up Emmett from straightaway to put the Knights up 9-0. Another newcomer finished off the scoring for the day as Emmett found Carolina Salazar on a breakaway in the 84th minute for her first career goal that put the Urban Knights up 10-0.

"Regardless of your opponent, you need to show up to play at every match in NCAA athletics," Nasypany said. "We did just that today. We have been working on tightening up the small things on both sides of the ball. The team executed, finding the back of the net for ten beautiful goals and not losing focus defensively to hold on to the shutout."

The Knights effort on the defensive end could very well be overshadowed by the offensive explosion, but the defensive backfield made it easy for goalkeeper Rachael Rempe, who only had one save on the day. ART U was able to mount their attack because sophomore defensive captain Sophie Meneses and senior captain Tanner McCandlish were extremely active on defense and in the midfield, respectively. 

Academy of Art will head north to face Simon Fraser University on Saturday in their first ever matchup played outside the United States. The SFU Clan hails from Burnaby, British Columbia, about 25 miles from the USA-Canada border. 

"This solid win will give the team confidence as we move forward to take on Simon Fraser University this weekend and start conference play next week," said Nasypany. "The team is in a good place and we are excited to keep the momentum moving forward."