Fullerton, CA -- The Academy of Art University women's soccer team was held in check once again in Southern California, falling in a 2-0 contest to Hope International University. The Royals have played close games all year, and held the Knights without an offensive push until late in the game, and were able to notch a goal in both halves to take the win.

Academy of Art had five shots in the first half, with Beth Barker getting the first two for the Knights, both going wide. Rea Laudat had a shot go wide right, but in the 31st minute, the Royals were the ones to get on the board, getting a goal from Cindy Cisneros that bounced off of an ART U defender. Newcomer Mikayla Martig and Laudat both got shots in the closing five minutes for the Knights, but neither could find the back of the net, and the Knights trailed 1-0 at halftime.

That's been the situation for three games in a row for the Knights, but unlike their win against Simon Fraser, the Knights were stopped from making a second-half comeback. Right out of the gate, Hope International scored another goal in the 47th minute, this time from Allyssa Stencil off a free kick. The Urban Knights battled, eventually getting 10 shots in the second half, but were turned away empty-handed every time.

"Looking at our four non-conference games, we outshot three out of four opponents and generated more set pieces and corners kicks," said head coach Aileen Nasypany. "Moving forward, we have to get better at technically capitalizing on these opportunities in order to take control of the match early. On the flip side, we are giving up goals on free kicks. If we can tighten up our defensive efforts there and then finish our chances, I am optimistic we can do some great things as we begin conference match-ups this week."

The Knights now return to San Francisco to regroup before starting the PacWest schedule on September 19 against California Baptist.. Between their home games and rivalry games against Dominican, Holy Names, and Notre Dame de Namur, ART U will not leave the Bay Area again until the final week of October.