OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Oly Town Artesians kicked off their indoor season last Saturday night when they faced off against the Snohomish Steelheads at the Snohomish Sports Dome. They put up a battle in the first half, but the Steelheads rallied for 3 goals in the second half to take a 7-4 victory in their Western Indoor Soccer League debut.
Collin Tate got the Artesians off on the right foot, opening the scoring early in the first quarter. But by the end of the quarter, Oly Town faced a setback as the Steelheads took the lead 2-1 with goals from Glenn Paden and Bryce Coffin.
Oly town got one back to kick off the second quarter when Alex Vogt fed the ball to Nate Murphey, tying up the game 2-2. Unfortunately, Tacoma struck back and pushed two past Artesians goalkeeper JJ Olson when Cristiano Whitaker fed a perfect ball to Andrew Escalante ramping up the score 3-2. And a pass from Devin Shull, allowed Cristiano Whitaker to push the lead 4-2 for the Steelheads.
The Artesians fought back, and with a ball in from Mitchel Balmer, Marcos Borja snuck a goal in right before the half which brought the score to 4-3 keeping the game competitive going into the second half.
“I thought it was a very even match-up. They have a handful of very experienced indoor players paired with the fact it is always challenging to go to someone else’s arena. In the end, the game was decided by power plays.” Said head coach Nate Boatright.
Veteran goal keeper JJ Olson confirmed the gameday competition.
“I thought we played well. Both teams were even in strength. This game showed us that as a team we have lots of things to work on.”
The Artesians added their fourth and final goal when goal keeper JJ Olson lead one off to Tombra Akrohodor.
The final whistle blew and the Steelheads added a 7-4 victory to their books.
The Artesians will look to rebound next weekend in Tacoma against the Tacoma Stars Reserves. Kick off is set for 6:30PM.
Oly Town Artesians goals: Colin Tate, Nate Murphey, Marcos Borja, Tombra Akrohodor.