BELLINGHAM, Wash. – TJ O’Connor and Collin Tate each scored twice for the Oly Town Artesians (0-3-0) but three-time defending WISL champion Bellingham United (3-0-0) got five goals from Richard Henderson to double up Oly, 14-7, at the Bellingham Sportplex on Saturday night.
Noe Betancourt Cruz got Bellingham rolling with a goal five minutes into the game. Collin Tate tied it at 1-1 at the 8:44 mark of the first quarter, but it was all United after that. The Hammers went on a 7-1 run for the rest of the half including three straight goals by Richard Henderson to give Bellingham an 8-2 lead at the half. David Cook collected Oly’s other goal, a second quarter flick of a ball into the box that Carl Determeyer directed his direction.
Oly got one back to kick off the second half, a power play goal that make it 8-3. But the Artesians were hit with three blue cards in the third and Bellingham capitalized on two of them and took an 11-3 lead into the fourth quarter.
TJ O’Connor scored both of his goals and Eli Boatright and Determeyer each added goals of their own in the fourth quarter, but Bellingham added three goals of their own to stay undefeated and extend their home winning streak to 23 games with a 14-7 victory.
Bellingham outshot the Artesians 29-9 during the game with Bradley Hanson making 12 saves on 23 shots over three quarters for the Artesians. Luis Magana made his debut for Oly and made three saves on six shots. On the other side, Bellingham keepers – Riley Liddle and Felix Cruz – made just two saves in the game, allowing seven goals on nine shots.
The Artesians return home on Saturday, December 15th to face the Tacoma Stars Reserves. 90’s night at The Pavilion is set for 6:30 PM. Doors open at 5:45 PM and tickets are just $8 for adults, $5 for kids 5-12, seniors and military members and kids under 5 are free. Tickets are available at www.olytownfc.com/tickets.
Oly Town Artesians goals: TJ O’Connor (2), Collin Tate (2), David Cook, Eli Boatright, Carl Determeyer
Bellingham United: Richard Henderson (5), Christian Caro (2), Kenny Parker (2), Noe Betancourt Cruz, Rene Caro, Nick Cashmere, Uriel Herrera, Connor Moe