Box Score
Photo Gallery (images by Trenton Cayetano)

San Rafael, CA – In a rematch with Dominican that this time counted on each team's Pacific West Conference record, Academy of Art University used a goal by Jonmundur Gretarsson in the 83rd minute to end a scoreless tie and finish off the season sweep of the Penguins. ART U made it now three wins in its past four games.

"We're just focusing on getting better," head coach Mike Keller said. "We're looking to play a little bit better every game."

In a back-and-forth first half battle, both teams looked for an early advantage, but just two shots on goal were seen. On an offensive push, Carlos Hernandez fired what would have been the first shot for ART U off the crossbar yet it was rescinded due to an offsides call. Luca Theis was very strong defensively in the opening period, stopping a pair of shots that came in the 10th and 13th minutes respectively.

The final play of the half saw Aron Ekberg nearly get past Danny Manfred on the left endline, but the senior was fouled and a yellow card issued. On the ensuing free kick from seven yards outside the box, Kristof Urbanyi sent a great cross which was barely denied by a leaping Erik Anderson in front of the Penguins' goal.

A pair of shot attempts came from Hernandez in the early portion of the second half, but each went wide. The 64th minute saw Sylvester Gyan dribbling against his defender on the Dominican endline and would have set up Frederik Nagel had the ball stayed in bounds. A wild sequence on both sides came midway through the period as Chris Sennes' shot was absorbed by Theis and Andrew Durano came back to force Anderson's first save of the day in the 77th minute.

It was a scary moment in the 79th minute when Jon "Jay" Eldon and Anderson collided converging on the ball just in front of the goal. An injury to Anderson's head was sustained and led to a lengthy delay as medical attention was required. 

"We really hope for a speedy recovery," Coach Keller said. "It was a tough break and was definitely anybody's game after that."

Shortly thereafter in the 83rd minute, William "Willy" Velasco Villa sent a well-played ball down the left side as part of an ART U counterattack which allowed Gretarsson to enter into a one-on-one against new goalie Patrick Rabbitt. A strategic chip shot was all Gretarsson needed to put his team on top 1-0. Several free kicks came for the Penguins in the final six minutes as well as a golden header opportunity by Sennes that went high, but the end result was an Academy of Art victory.

The Urban Knights improve to 6-4 overall and 3-2 in PacWest action. Gretarsson, who now has five goals to lead ART U, registered his second game-winner of the season and now has 13 points as well. Defensively, Theis earned his first career shutout with three saves to his credit and a solid supporting cast in the Knights' back line.

Dominican drops to 3-6-2 overall, 1-3-1 in PacWest despite two close attempts from Sennes and a very strong 79:35 in goal from Anderson prior to his injury.

Academy of Art returns to San Francisco for the final two games of its home-heavy first half of the year as Point Loma comes to town on Saturday, Oct. 12 (CCSF at 2:30 PM) followed by Dixie State on Monday, Oct. 14 (Crocker Amazon Park at 1:00 PM).