HAYWARD, Calif. – Under the lights at Pioneer Field on Thursday, Academy of Art University women's soccer began its 2018 season with a tough matchup against Cal State East Bay. The Urban Knights would hold the Pioneers scoreless for 61 consecutive minutes, but it came after early offense from the home team which led to the 3-0 triumph for CSUEB.

"The two early goals given up had a lot to do with the bright lights of opening night, but the energy, communication, and fight never waned throughout the game," said head coach Chris King. "Once we worked through the early butterflies with a lot of freshman making their college debuts, we saw some impressive play and a lot of reasons for us to be excited for this season."

In the fifth minute, it was Cal State East Bay's Abby Buitrago who scored the first goal of the season off an assist from Jordan Lemieux. Later Chace Miguel found the back of the net on a pass from Jamie McPherson in the 14th minute to build a 2-0 lead for the home team. Before the first half was complete, Eliana Mendoza took a ball from Liz Hernandez and scored in the 30th minute.

Sophomore goalkeeper Lara Pflicke opened the second half in goal and she would not allow a score in 45 minutes of action. She made back-to-back saves in the 60th and 61st minutes and would deny two more opportunities in the final 20 minutes of play. A corner kick by senior midfielder Alice Michell presented ART U with a chance in the 70th minute, but the Urban Knights could not connect and ended up falling 3-0 in the end.

"This was a great test for us against an athletic team and we were able to solve a number of different problems," said King. "Leading into our trip to Washington and Oregon, I think we're poised to battle for two results against good opponents."

Academy of Art remains on the road through its first three non-conference matches with a trip to Washington and Oregon coming next week. The Urban Knights will take on Saint Martin's on Sept. 6 then Western Oregon on Sept. 8.