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OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Oly Town Artesians built a 5-0 lead in the first quarter and held off a Tacoma Narrows comeback attempt to take a 9-6 victory on Saturday night. Alec Zimmerman collected a hat trick for the Artesians, who improved to 2-1-0 this season in front of a great home opener crowd at The Pavilion at The Evergreen State College.

Oly Town’s player/head coach, PJ Vargas, started the game off right for his squad, scoring his first goal for the Artesians three minutes into the first quarter. Alec Zimmerman scored his first goal of the game three minutes later before goalkeeper JJ Olson got on the board with a long shot that found the back of the net to make it 3-0. Duvan Vaca Trujillo and Collin Tate rounded out the first quarter scoring to make it 5-0 through the first 15 minutes.

Zimmerman notched his second goal of the game at the 9:39 mark of the second quarter to make it 6-0, but the Narrows defense tightened up after that and Tacoma started closing the gap. AJ Nitzel got them on the board with a power play goal and then Nick Mejia scored two of his four goals to close out the first half and get within striking distance, 6-3, at halftime.

Mejia scored two more times to open the second half to get Narrows to within a goal, 6-5, with ten minutes left in the third quarter. Zimmerman answered for Oly Town to make it 7-5 before Jake Dobson added one more for Narrows with a minute left in the third to cut the lead going into the fourth quarter to just one, 7-6.

The Artesians picked up a blue card with 12 seconds left in the third but came up with a clutch power play kill that ended at the 13:12 mark of the fourth. Energized from the penalty kill, Eli Boatright scored a couple minutes later to make it 8-6. Olson and the Artesians defense posted a clean quarter and Tate scored his second goal of the game with less than a minute left to secure the 9-6 victory.

The win moves the Artesians to 2-1-0 on the season, doubling the amount of wins they had over the past two seasons combined. They will travel to Bellingham next Saturday to take on Bellingham United. Kick off is set for 6:35. They will return to Olympia and The Pavilion on Saturday, December 21st for a matchup against the first place Tacoma Stars Reserves at 6:35.

Tacoma Narrows fell to 0-3-0 with the loss. They will face the Snohomish Skyhawks next week.

Oly Town Artesians goals: Alec Zimmerman (3), Collin Tate (2), PJ Vargas, JJ Olson, Duvan Vaca Trujillo, Eli Boatright
Tacoma Narrows goals: Nick Mejia (4), AJ Nitzel, Jake Dobson

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OLYMPIA, Wash. – Tim Smith, Owner and President of Oly Town Football Club announced today an Agreement in Principle to expand ownership in the club. Oly Town FC is the parent club for the Oly Town Artesians Men’s indoor and outdoor semi-pro soccer teams, Artesians Reserves Men’s outdoor semi-pro team and the Artesians Women’s indoor semi-pro team that is set to begin play in 2020.

Joining Tim and his wife, Connie, in the ownership group are:
Tom and Anna Boatright and Family
Thomas and Meagan Arndt
Chris and Mindi Knudson and Family
Drew and Kylie Phillips and Family

“This means the Artesians are here to stay,” said Smith. “All four of these families have long, strong ties to the local soccer community and to the community as a whole. Connie and I are so thankful to Olympia for supporting the team over the past 6 years, and we could not be more excited about the future. Community-based soccer at this level doesn’t work everywhere, but it has made it here.”

The Artesians were founded in 2014 by Brandon Sparks along with Tim and Connie Smith, owners of Olympia Indoor Soccer. Today, the club competes in the Western Indoor Soccer League (WISL) and the Evergreen Premier League (EPLWA) and will join the WISL Women’s League, beginning play in February, 2020.

“I benefited greatly from playing soccer in this area since my youth and I’m excited to be partnering with this group of owners to further promote the sport and provide opportunities for players,” commented Tom Arndt. “We look forward to growing the Oly Town Artesians organization and appreciate the support of local businesses and our strong soccer community.”

In addition, the club announced four new Director positions to guide and support the day-to-day operations of the club:

  • Kyle Wiese, Managing Member of Opportunity Zone Investments and a long-time Artesians player, will serve as Director of Business and Administration.
  • Leon Grinnell brings decades of FC management experience in Germany and the US to the role of Director of Club Development. Leon will also manage Olympia Indoor Soccer.
  • Matt Welling, long-time club coach with Washington Premier FC will serve as Director of Soccer
  • Brandon Sparks continues his role with the club as Director of Communications and Design and providing Play-by-Play for the Artesians Network streaming service.

“This is exactly what I envisioned and hoped for when we founded the club in 2014”, said founder Brandon Sparks. “Tim and I have always wanted to see the community rally around independent, community based soccer and it is exciting to see important people in our community, and people that have been invested in the club in other ways previously, take that next step and make this their club.”

On the field, the Artesians kick off their 2019-2020 slate of home games this Saturday when they take on Tacoma Narrows FC at The Pavilion at The Evergreen State College. First kick is set for 6:35 PM and tickets are just $8 for adults, $5 for kids 5-12 years-old, seniors, military and first responders and are available at the door.

Oly Town enters the game with a 1-1-0 record this season after a 9-6 win over the Oly-Pen Force in week one and then a hard fought 8-6 loss to the Snohomish Skyhawks in week two. Capital High School alum Alec Zimmerman leads the team with three goals and four assists through the first two games while his brother, Jordan, is right behind him with a pair of goals. Another Capital grad and veteran Artesian, Nate Boatright, has also added two goals.

JJ Olson has been solid in goal making a plethora of saves over the first two games to lead the team defensively and defender Brett Stallworth is expected to make his 42nd consecutive appearance for Oly Town. New Artesians head coach PJ Vargas has had two weeks since the Snohomish loss to prepare and the squad will see a couple new faces on the field for the home opener.

Narrows enters the game at 0-2-0 after dropping their first two games to the two toughest WISL opponents, Bellingham United and the Tacoma Stars Reserves. They fell 13-4 in Bellingham after unexpectedly losing their top goalkeeper to the Hammers just days before the opener and then scored just one goal against the Stars Reserves in week two. But Narrows holds a 2-0-0 record over the Artesians and made the playoffs last season in their first WISL campaign.

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David Cook | Photo: Charis Wilson

SNOHOMISH, Wash. – Jordan Zimmerman scored twice for Oly Town FC, but the Snohomish Skyhawks took advantage of some key Artesians mistakes and held off a late comeback attempt to take an 8-6 win at the Snohomish Soccer Dome on Saturday night.

The Skyhawks jumped out to a two goal lead in the first quarter before the Artesians fought back to within one by halftime. Jordan Zimmerman got Oly Town going with a power play goal early in the second quarter and then Nate Boatright made it a one goal game when he gathered a ball just outside the box and calmly beat Skyhawks keeper Trevor Davoren, who was out of position away from his goal. The two teams went to the break with Snohomish leading 3-2.

Alec Zimmerman tied the game at 3-3 on a power play goal early in the third quarter but just moments later, the Artesians were called for a foul on a breakaway and Snohomish was awarded a penalty shootout. Devin Mendiola slipped one past goalkeeper JJ Olson to give the Skyhawks a 4-3 lead, one that they wouldn’t relinquish. The third quarter ended with a flurry of goals, including Graham Hatten’s first as an Artesian, and Snohomish held a 6-4 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Andrew Escalante was credited with a goal on an own goal by Oly to make it a three goal game, 7-4, early in the fourth. After David Cook got it back to two goals for the Artesians, Escalante scored once more to make it 8-5. Jordan Zimmerman scored on a power play with 2:17 remaining but time ran out on a furious Artesian attack and the Skyhawks picked up their first win of the season, 8-6.

Both teams now sit at 1-1-0 this season with the Thanksgiving break up next. The Artesians will open their home slate on Saturday, December 7th when they welcome Tacoma Narrows to The Pavilion at The Evergreen State College. First kick is scheduled for 6:35 PM with doors at the Pavilion opening at 5:45. Tickets will be available at the door and the Artesians will have a couple exciting announcements about game days at The Pavilion soon.

Snohomish Skyhawks goals: Andrew Escalante (2), Rio Alcorta, Efrain Alvarado, Russell Brown, Kevin Flavin, Devin Mendiola, Michael Sitzman
Oly Town Artesians goals: Jordan Zimmerman (2), Nate Boatright, Alec Zimmerman, Graham Hatten, David Cook