OLYMPIA, Wash. – The first place Seattle Stars scored a fifth minute goal and a stoppage time goal near the end of the game to knock off the Oly Town Artesians 2-0 on Saturday evening at Wembley Field at The Evergreen State College.
Aty Taylor scored the opening and what proved to be the game winning goal for the Stars on a bicycle kick from an Artesians clearance gone awry. Tyler Bjork got a piece of the clearance and was credited with an assist on a shot that happened to find the perfect angle through a seam in the Oly defense.
Bjork, the league leader in goals with 13 and scored four goals in the previous meeting between the Stars and Artesians, was held scoreless and was forced to leave the game for most of the second half with an injury. He returned to the game late, but could not get on the board thanks to a fantastic game by Oly Town center backs Collin LaBranche and Brett Stallworth. Oni Mayer also had a nice game from the back line including a handful of crosses into the box on offense that kept the Stars on their heels throughout the contest.
The Artesians came out of the gates aggressively and outshot the Stars in the first half and had more shots on goal in the second half. The two teams traded shots throughout the physical but fast paced game, but Stars keeper Carlos Rodriguez made four saves to post his third clean sheet of the season. Miles Sanchez scored the insurance goal late into stoppage time to seal the victory for Seattle.
Oly Town dropped to 4-5-3 with 15 points in their inaugural season in the Evergreen Premier League. Meanwhile, Seattle retook first place in the EPLWA after Bellingham United took the lead with a 3-2 win over Spokane earlier on Saturday.
The Artesians will look to finish strong with their home finale on Sunday, July 23rd. First kick against Washington Premier South Sound FC at The Evergreen State College is set for 3:00 PM. Sunday’s game is Fan Appreciation night and all youth soccer players in uniform will be admitted for free and will be invited onto the field for introductions with the teams.
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