VANCOUVER, Wash. – For the first time since July 13th, 2019, the Oly Town Artesians men took the pitch for an Evergreen Premier League game. Allen Escalante scored the first goal of the season for the Artesians but it was the Vancouver Victory that took the season’s opening game, 3-1, at Harmony Sports in Vancouver on Saturday night.
The rust was apparent in the first half of the game with Vancouver putting constant pressure on the Artesians from the get go. Oly had to settle for multiple long runs over the top that resulted in a couple good chances for Jason Fairhurst early. One of the better opportunities of the half came from Joe DiCarlo, whose shot drifted just wide after a nice turn in the 13th minute.
Vancouver struck first in the 15th minute when Levan Zhividze found Ohm Harape for a wide open shot that Oly keeper Sawyer Price had no chance to stop putting the Victory up 1-0.
Price was forced into another a series of saves in the 39th minute to keep the Artesians within striking distance. Angel Trejo-Delgado had the best opportunity of the half with an uncontested header that he didn’t quite get full power on and went directly to Vancouver keeper Dylan DeBaldo. The half came to an end with Vancouver up 1-0.
The second half showed marked improvement offensively for the Artesians with a big increase in possession and pressure, but defensive mistakes led to two easy goals for Vancouver. Arturo Behena struck first in the 57th minute on Zhividze’s second assist and then Zhividze made it 3-0 in the 77th minute.
Allen Escalante scored the Oly Town goal in stoppage time off of a free kick from Alec Zimmerman but the game ended just moments later with Vancouver taking the 3-1 victory.
Oly Town now gets a two week break until the next Evergreen Premier League game, their home opener against Tacoma Narrows on Saturday, June 5th. Next up for the Artesians is a first round Washington State Super Cup match against Harbor Force on Wednesday, May 26th at Black Hills High School. First kick is set for 7:00 PM.
GOALS: ’15 – Vancouver – Harape (Zhividze), ’57 – Vancouver – Behena (Zhividze), ’77 – Vancouver – Zhividze, ’90+ – Oly Town – Escalante (A. Zimmerman)
DISCIPLINE: ’44 – Corey Smith Dias (Yellow), ’55 – Joe DiCarlo (Yellow)
Oly Town Lineup: 1 – Sawyer Price (GK), 2 – Manny Nicasio, 6 – Tino Pantaleon (’45), 8 – Allen Escalante, 9 – Angel Trejo-Delgado (’71), 10 – Jason Fairhurst, 13 – Collin LeBranche, 14 – Nate Boatright, 15 – Jordan Zimmerman (’71), 16 – Pablo Ramos (’61), 17 – Joe DiCarlo (’61),
Subs: 4 – Amri Mwenyeheri (’71), 5 – Dakota Seddon (’71), 7 – Jake Zimmerman (’61), 11 – Alec Zimmerman (’45), 12 – Trevor Thompson (’61), 19 – Carlos Rodriguez