Match #16
ART U Urban Knights (0-12-1, 0-8-0 PacWest) at DUC Penguins (7-5-2, 2-5-1 PacWest)
Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021 at 2 p.m.
San Rafael, Calif. – Kennelly Field
Live Stats & Video

END OF THE ROAD
The conclusion of the 2021 season has arrived for Academy of Art men's soccer, as the Urban Knights hit the road for the final time to take on Bay Area foe Dominican in Pacific West Conference action. 

KICKOFF
Thursday's kickoff is set for the early afternoon, as the battle with Dominican will commence at 2 p.m. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights via the athletics app (Apple App Store, Google Play Store) and on Twitter & Instagram, as well as "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps. 

KNIGHT WATCH
Senior forward Adrian Cekala's goal during ART U's match with UH Hilo was one for the record books, as he became ART U's all-time leading scorer with his 17th goal, breaking him out of a tie with Grimur Grimsson (16). It was also the 39th point in Cekala's career, giving him the all-time ART U record after passing Kristof Urbanyi (37). The record setting continued on senior day for Cekala by scoring twice in the Urban Knights 4-0 win over Chaminade to reach 20 goals in his career, becoming the first in program history to reach the mark. For his efforts, he was named the PacWest Co-Player of the Week for the third time in his career. 

Cekala remains the top scorer for the Urban Knights this year, leading the squad in goals (6), assists (1) and points (13). The first goal he scored against the Silverswords would turn out to be the game winner, giving him four such goals in his career which is tied for the third most in program history, while he is also tied for the most penalty kick goals in program history (5-for-6 in his career; most attempts in program history). 

Also scoring in the contest was sophomore midfielder, as he buried the second marker of the match before assisting on Cekala's second tally for three points in the match. It was a new single-game career high for Miller, who now has six points in his last four matches. His first goal of the season just before half during ART U's battle with Concordia when he curled a shot into the net off a quick free kick setup from sophomore midfielder Christian Schaffner, and followed that up by earning the helper on junior midfielder Gilli Kristjansson's first goal of the season in the 56th minute against APU.

Also finding the back of the net in the senior day victory for the first time in his career as an insurance goal with eight seconds left was freshman defender Bilal Mihoubi, who took the ball coast to coast starting in his own end, and capped it off by finishing to the lower-right corner. His effort in helping keep a clean sheet along with his goal would result in him being named the PacWest Defender of the Week for the first time in his career. 

Both Cekala and Miller are tied for the team lead in shots with 38 apiece, though Cekala holds the edge in shots on goal with 21, the second-most in the PacWest. While Miller has hit the frame of the goal on numerous occasions, he still is tied for the third-most shots per match in the PacWest (along with Cekala), and is tied for seventh in the conference with 17 shots on goal.

Chipping in a pair of points with a goal each are the trio of junior forward Fannar Omarsson, freshman forward Ping Yao, and sophomore midfielder Kendryx Soriano, started by Omarsson who struck for the first goal of the Urban Knights season just seven minutes into the season opener with a helping assist from Cekala. Recently in ART U's rematch against Holy Names, the freshman Yao snatched his first career goal in his fourth match with the Knights, and that spirit spread to Soriano when he notched his first career score in the 67th minute against FPU after a nice assist from junior midfielder Breki Einarsson. 

Platooning in goal for Academy of Art is the combination of junior goalkeeper Davis King and freshman goalkeeper Omer Tal, with each having drawn seven starts. Thus far, King has produced 24 saves on 114 shots faced (.522 save percentage) with a 3.10 goals against average, while Tal has stopped 35 chances on 119 shots faced (.714 save percentage; sixth best in the PacWest) with a 1.94 goals against average (10th best in PacWest). The saves are the seventh most in the conference, while he has the sixth-best mark in saves per match at 3.89. Earlier this season, Tal posted the ninth-most saves in a single match in ART U history with nine in his first collegiate start against HNU on Sept. 22, ultimately being named the PacWest Defender of the Week on Sept. 27.

TOO HOT FOR THE PENGUINS
Entering in the match on a three-match skid is Dominican, dropping three consecutive one-goal games to Concordia, Biola and Point Loma. Though their conference record is not what they would hope it would be, the Penguins have still scored the fifth most goals in the PacWest (25) on the fourth most shots in the league (216), averaging 1.79 goals per game on 15.4 shots per match. Depth is the name of the game for the Penguins, as only Roberto Garcia has reached 10 points on the year thanks to three goals and four assists, but 19 different players have recorded at least one point. The top goal scorer is Joe Blakely, who comes into the matchup with four goals on 22 shots. Projected to start in goal is Ruben Raygoza, posting a .761 save percentge with a 1.53 goals against average in 11 matches on the year. ART U leads DUC in the all-time series matchup, 10-7-1. 

OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION LEADS TO SENIOR DAY WIN FOR ART U
Putting on a show for the fans in attendance for Senior Day, Academy of Art men's soccer erupted for three goals within six minutes of each other, setting the tone for what would become a 4-0 Pacific West Conference win over Chaminade on Thursday. 

LOOKING AHEAD
Next season is what Academy of Art has to look forward to, as the Urban Knights will not take the pitch again until fall 2022. For all the latest ART U men's soccer news, check www.ARTUAthletics.com.