SAN FRANCISCO – In their final home match of the season and senior day, Academy of Art exploded for five goals from five different Urban Knights including two from seniors on Saturday afternoon at CCSF Soccer Field. 

Before the match the four seniors, Anissa Wilson, Jenny Wittor, Mikayla Lopez, and Casey Childers were celebrated for their time and commitment they dedicated to the program in a ceremony before the game.

As play got underway it was junior midfielder Sydney Cooke who first found the back of the net for ART U. In the 25th minute Cooke intercepted a pass deep in the Sunbirds backline, dribbled to the top of the penalty box and ripped a shot on goal. The FPU keeper deflected it, but the momentum was enough to cross the goal line and put the Urban Knights up 1-0. 

Less than 10 minutes later Wilson put ART U ahead 2-0 with her 12th goal of the season and 18th of her career, which tied the ART U career goals record. Junior midfielder Alyssa Rasmussen won a ball on a poor pass by the Sunbirds then blazed ahead toward the goal. As a defender stepped up to stop Rasmussen, Wilson was left wide open at the top of the box. Rasmussen executed a perfectly timed pass that Wilson launched to the top right corner of the net. 

The floodgates were open as ART U scored again just three minutes later in the 36th minute. This time Wilson was the one assisting the goal, as she put in a tremendous ball on a free kick near the endline. The ball floated past the penalty marker as freshman Katie Williams leapt in the air to put a brilliant header on the ball from 12 yards out and send it to the back of the net giving ART U a 3-0 lead at halftime. 

In the second half, sophomore forward Baylie Christensen kicked off the scoring in the 61st minute. Christensen took the ball from an FPU defender and sprinted with it to the top left side of the box, where she hit a beautiful left footed shot right between the goalie's reach and the crossbar. 

Another senior got involved to close out the game and hammer the final nail in the coffin. Fittingly, Wittor scored her first goal of the season in the 87th minute to put an exclamation point on senior day and give the Urban Knights a dominant 5-0 victory. Freshman forward Brooklyn Villapudua played an excellent through ball that Wittor caught in stride and sent to the left corner of the net for the final goal.

Deceivingly, the shutout was not handed to ART U. Despite the 5-0 score, Fresno Pacific took 20 shots, including seven on goal, all of which junior goalkeeper Lara Pflcike saved. The Sunbirds also took six corner kicks, but still the Urban Knights' defense kept FPU off the board. Pflicke notched her third shutout of the season on the victory and her seven saves brought her season total to 69.

Academy of Art improves to 7-4-3 overall and 3-2-2 in conference for a total of 11 points, placing them fourth in the PacWest. ART U will play as away the remainder of the season, taking on NDNU next on Nov. 5 before taking a trip to Hawaii for a trio of matches.