EVERETT, WA — The magic of a streaking undefeated Oly Town Men’s team came to an abrupt end Saturday Night at a packed second deck of the Everett Soccer Arena two hours from the Artesians homefield “The Icebox” at the Evergreen State College. League newcomer Everett City FC who upset reigning 2021-22 runner Up Bellingham United in Week 1 seemed to catch Oly Town’s jet lag with perfect timing scoring 7 first half goals in what looked and felt like a metaphorical first round knockout.
Noticeable for Oly Town was the absence of regular names on the Artesian Arena lineup announced by Head Coach Nick Boatright including Manny Nicasio, Collin Tate, Sebastian Lyons and Marcos Borja as a string of injuries hits the Artesian club.
Oly Town traveling with limited healthy players started with perennial powerhouse goalkeeper Matt Stalnik who had the clubs lowest goals against record (4 GAA) and Week 2 Player of the Week honors. However an early barrage of Everett opportunities against the Artesian defense would produce 7 first half goals for the home team. Uncharacteristic for the former pro arena goalkeeper Stalnik and the Artesian defense of late.
Oly Town only mustering one goal in the first half from Kasey Sidor in the 11 minute mark on an assist from Jason Fairhurst. This was a far cry from Everett’s performance against the Tacoma Stars Reserves who shut out Everett 7-0 the previous week.
“Part of being a good team is learning how to mitigate mistakes especially after getting scored on. They scored 3 at the very end of the first quarter and that is down to our decision making on the ball, but also an overcommitment to try to immediately change the game. That type of pushing to get a goal can lead to a lack of balance in our shape and the result last night was lost in 1v1 opportunities for their top players, who capitalized on not having a midfielder in the half space.” -Skipper Nick Boatright
The second half would be a different story and some major changes as Isaiah Damschen would enter the game at goalkeeper and the Artesians scoring 3 goals striking first to open the second half of play.
Mitchell Balmer, Kasey Sidor and Alex Vogt would get the Artesians back in a fighting position in the third period meanwhile the Everett City FC offense who had a field day in the first half were unable to get beyond the Artesian defense and Damschen.
The 4th Period which seemed like a century and needing much needed Artesian offensive prowess saw two more goals towards the end from Alex Vogt and Jesus Flores with assists from Captain Nate Boatright and Sam Tafolla.
Nate Boatright walked away with a game high (3) assists and helped engineer many goal scoring opportunities. Boatright is an Oly Legend having played several seasons, captained and coached the team while injured last season and returned to the field healthy two months ago. His impact felt greatly in the second half.
“What I like about this team is the togetherness of the group, we all know the mentality wasn’t there in the first half, but we came together and fixed it. Unfortunately we ran out of time.” -Coach Nick Boatright
The second half resurgence came up just short and Coach Nick Boatright’s Artesians walk away with their first defeat of the Western Indoor Soccer League season (Record 3-1-0). Oly Town heads into week 5 action by road tripping all the way to the USA/Canada Border to Bellingham to take on a 1-win United team.
Goals: (2) Sidor, Vogt (1) Balmer, Flores,
Assists: (3) Boatright (2) Fairhurst (1) Tafolla
Keepers: Damschen (30 minutes, 1 GAA) Stalnik (30 Minutes, 7 Goals GAA)
Record Continues: Brett Stallworth (53rd Appearance, 2015-2022)
Scores around the WISL for Week 4 had Tacoma Stars Reserves annihilating Portland at home 17-2 meanwhile Bellingham United picks up their first win of the year at Olympic Force 13-6. The win for the Stars puts them at 1st place knocking the Artesians off their 3-week perch as Oly’s winning percentage gets a hit with the loss against Everett.
Surprisingly the first place Stars and second place Artesians do not see each other until the final three weeks of play in Late February 2023.
Oly Town’s next home match is an Exhibition January 7th against Bellevue FC and will also have Former Pro and Olympia Soccer Legend Jason Dunn being honored at halftime and some autograph and custom swag available for fans. Dunn played for the Seattle Sounders, the United States Men’s National Team and the Arena League Wichita Wings. Jason Dunn graduated from North Thurston High School in 1990 and also won a High School State Championship for the local Rams in what is considered the greatest high school soccer team in Washington State History, posting a perfect 24-0 Record, outscoring opponents 104-4 and Jason Dunn setting a school record 34 goals in one season.
Tickets are available at olytownfc.com and follow @olytownfc on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for daily club updates and events. Oly Town does not exist without strong community support, ticket sales and people coming to the games.
Reminder that Oly Town is throwing a big “Celebrating Local Women’s Soccer” at Nicole’s Bar Off Legion Friday December 9th in honor of the Artesian Women Winning the NWPL Championship and Oly Town Signing a Franchise Promotion to the USL W League. Guest speakers from local leaders, prizes, swag and special W League gear available. Come out for some fun drinks and food too.
