February 12, 2023
OLYMPIA, WA – The Oly Town Artesians added a crucial win over Bellingham United with a final score of 5-2 in the Western Indoor Soccer League (WISL) Saturday night. An important result which kept home field advantage hopes alive for the semifinals on March 4 for the hometown team. The Artesians continue to sit in second place after securing three points and an 8-1-2 record in front of a record crowd at the Pavilion at The Evergreen State College.
Alex Vogt scored two in the first half while Asa Moncivais added one to get the Artesians on the board early in a historic bitter, long distance rivalry with Bellingham Saturday night. Bellingham played spoiler to Nate Boatright, former arena head coach who decided to return to the field this season. Oly Town in 2021-22 coming out of the pandemic for its first arena season had posted a very positive undefeated streak until Bellingham downed the Artesians in the final match at home. The skid would result in a second match up which saw the Artesians travel to Bellingham for a semifinal in which a one and done loss sent Oly Town back to Olympia wishing for more. Now captain Nate Boatright getting his revenge on the pitch in 2023.
Isaiah Damschen and the defense seemed to anticipate most of Bellingham’s moves and counter attacks all night as Bellingham in a rare occurrence went scoreless for an entire 45 minutes of play in front of 300 people at the pavilion. The crowd, a record, wrapped around the entire arena and into the visiting bench entrance for Bellingham United.
“It was incredible to see the pavilion packed” said Boatright regarding the crowd. “The pavilion holds a special place in my heart because it was where I fell in love with the game. Watching the Evergreen players train as a boy and I am happy that we get to provide that to the community now.”
Goals in the third and fourth period by Kasey Sidor and Rainier Schlekewey sealed the deal as Ale Tomassi added a pair of goals for Bellingham. The 5-2 score line would hold true for a three point night for the Artesians. Damschen would end up with only two goals against him in 60 minutes of play, a unique stat for the usually high rate of goals scored in the pavilion.
“Being defensively compact and not allowing Bellingham to isolate one versus one or play off their post” said Head Coach Nick Boatright. “Our counter pressing was extremely good and created several good goal scoring chances.”
The crowd Saturday night did have a few special visitors as USL Men’s Head Coach Liviu Bird addressed the crowd for the first time to hype up the upcoming 2023 summer outdoor season. Coach Bird described the athletes he is recruiting from around the United States and abroad and also reiterated the clubs need for host families to bring top level athletes in to compete in the highest level of path to professional soccer.
Oly Town’s Kailey Utley was honored and inducted into the Hall of Legends for Oly Town after setting club records for the women’s side including 25 goals in a single arena season and 5 goals in a single match. Records that shattered both men’s and women’s stat sheets since 2014.
Children filled the entire field at halftime as youth clubs Chinqually Booters and TC United were honored at the match. Youth clubs interested in partnering with the Oly Town Artesians are encouraged to email playnow@olytownfc.com to be a part of future matches.
Oly Town travels to the Tacoma Stars for a final showdown to decide the Artesians fate of hosting their first ever arena playoff game in club history. Kickoff is set for 7PM, Saturday February 25th at the Tacoma Indoor Soccer Center. Oly Town will be making announcements regarding a special travel convoy for Artesian fans to make the 25 minute trek to Tacoma for the match. Make sure to subscribe to Oly Town FC on this page and follow @olytownfc on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for updates.
Support Oly Town today by making a donation or suggesting to your workplace to sponsor the Artesians. Information and details can be found on www.olytownfc.com/partners to learn more and partner with the club.
Photo Gallery by Steve Schmidt visit www.olyphotos.com to learn more about Steve and view his extensive portfolio.
