TACOMA, Wash. – Tacoma Narrows scored twice in a four minute span at the beginning of the second half to take a commanding three goal lead over the Oly Town Artesians men and held on for a 3-0 win at the SERA Sports Complex in Tacoma on Saturday night.
Right off the bat, Oly Town goalkeeper Sawyer Price was forced into a pair of saves as Tacoma Narrows set the tone for the rest of the match. Narrows held most of the possession early with just a couple chances for Oly including a shot by Connor Desmond that went wide. Then, on a counter attack, Neil Boyal sprinted up the right side and crossed the ball into the box where he found Adrian Correa, who slotted it past Price for a 1-0 Tacoma lead in the 31st minute, a lead they would take into halftime.
Just four minutes into the second half, Tacoma was awarded a penalty on a foul near the edge of the box and Eddie Na converted the kick to put Narrows up 2-0. Just two minutes later, Boyal launched a shot from distance that found the back of the net and gave Tacoma a 3-0 lead in the 51st minute.
With the introduction of subs Joe DiCarlo and Carlos Rodriguez with 25 minutes remaining, the Artesians finally notched their first shots on goal, but Narrows keeper Mike Arguello kept the clean sheet in the 3-0 win, Tacoma’s first of the season.
The Artesians men fell to 2-2-0 this season and now sit in second place in the Evergreen Premier League’s South Division with two home games remaining. They will face the Vancouver Victory on their home field next Saturday at Black Hills High School. First kick is set for 6:30 PM after the Artesians women face Snohomish County FC in game one of the doubleheader beginning at 3:30.
GOALS: ’31 – Adrian Correa (Neil Boyal) – Tacoma, ’49 – Eddie Na (PK) – Tacoma, ’51 – Boyal – Tacoma
DISCIPLINE: Nate Boatright (Oly Town) – Yellow, Danny Minniti (Tacoma) – Yellow
OLY TOWN LINEUP: 1 – Sawyer Price (GK), 2 – Manny Nicasio, 5 – Tino Pantaleon (’62), 7 – Connor Desmond (’69), 8 – Allen Escalante, 10 – Alec Zimmerman (’69), 11 – Trevor Thompson (’62), 13 – Dylan Chavez (’65), 15 – Nate Boatright, 16 – Collin LaBranche, 17 – Max Hauser
SUBS: 3 – Sammy Taffola (’69), 4 – Jake Zimmerman, 6 – Marcos Santos (’69), 9 – Alex Vidal, 12 – Craig Johnson (’62), 14 – Joe DiCarlo (’62), 18 – Carlos Rodriguez (’65)