Game Previews

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Sawyer Price | Photo credit: Sonja Purtteman

OLYMPIA, Wash. – After a successful regular season, the Oly Town Artesians play host to Pacific Northwest Soccer Club on Friday, July 16th at 8:00 PM in the quarterfinals of the Evergreen Premier League playoffs. It is the first time that the Artesians have hosted a playoff game since joining the league in 2017. Tickets for the clash are just $8 for adults, $5 for kids, seniors and military and can be purchased at the gate at Black Hills High School. The winner of Friday’s game will face either Everett or Tacoma Narrows in the semifinals on Sunday.

The Artesians finished the regular season with a 3-2-1 and tied on points with Tacoma Narrows with 10. But Tacoma’s 3-0 win gave them the tiebreaker in the standings, so the Artesians are the #2 team out of the EPLWA’s South Division and will face the #3 team from the North, PacNW. Oly is led by Evergreen State product Max Hauser’s three goals and two assists this season. Six other players have each scored one goal apiece. Olympia High School alum and Northwest Nazarene goalkeeper Sawyer Price has started all six league games and sports a 1.22 goals against average in his second year with the Artesians.

Oly Town will have to stop the EPLWA’s all-time leading scorer and 2021 Golden Boot winner, Tyler Bjork. The longtime league veteran scored six goals this season for an otherwise young, but talented PacNW squad that went 2-3-1 in the North. Just two other players scored goals for them this season with two Saint Mary’s University Gaels, Tyler Hardin and Andrew Rotter, rounding out the scoring with two goals each. Cam Welty recorded one shutout in goal for the Tukwila based club.

Super Cup Semifinals Recap: The Artesians took a 2-0 lead at The Southwest Athletic Complex in West Seattle on Wednesday night but Sporting International roared back with three straight goals to advance to the Washington State Super Cup Finals with a 3-2 victory.

Joe DiCarlo opened the scoring after a foul by Sporting just outside of the box in the 13th minute. DiCarlo’s free kick was perfectly placed and Oly took a 1-0 lead. Alec Zimmerman then made it a 2-0 lead after a throw in from Max Hauser found him on the right side with a lot of room to work with and he fired a shot past the goalkeeper in the 35th minute.

Oly’s bend-but-don’t-break defense seemed to be cruising along until the very last play of the first half when Sporting struck to cut the lead to one. After the break, Sporting seemed to flip a switch and dominated possession for the final 45 cashing in on the equalizing goal in the 55th minute and the game winner in the 75th to send them to the finals where they will face Washington Premier.

Stay up to date with the 2021 men’s and women’s outdoor seasons by visiting www.olytownfc.com, following them on Twitter at twitter.com/OlyTownFC, and liking them on Facebook at FB.com/OlyTownFC.

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OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Oly Town Artesians host a huge Leap Day night of indoor soccer on Saturday night when they play the annual Austin Kelley Tribute Game at 4:30 and then host the very first women’s game in Western Indoor Soccer League history when the Oly-Pen Force come to town at 6:35. Tickets are just $8 for adults, $5 for kids 5-12, seniors, military and first responders and gets you into both games at The Pavilion at The Evergreen State College. The Well 80 Beer Garden will be open for fans 21 and up and Delmonico’s Heritage Butcher will be on site with a wood-fired BBQ providing delicious concessions.

The Artesians will play the first women’s game in club and WISL history beginning at 6:35. The inaugural WISL season consists of six regular season games featuring four teams – the Artesians, Oly-Pen Force, Snohomish Skyhawks, and Tacoma Narrows. The Artesians are coached by Kate Green, a native of Kent that played collegiately at Seattle U and Evergreen State and is a highly experienced coach with Washington Premier FC and Pacific Lutheran.

Emily Sorenson
Angela Celedon
Niki Covert

Green’s squad will feature many local players including Timberline alum Leah Magee – a first team all-conference performer last season at Pacific Lutheran, veteran of the area soccer community Niki Covert, North Thurston and Evergreen alum Emily Sorenson, and current Geoduck Sunny Bieber. Forward Angela Celedon led Washington Premier of the outdoor Northwest Premier League with seven goals last season and she is expected to team with Tacoma’s Aubrey Smith up front.

“Our team talks a lot about how grateful we are for this opportunity,” said Green. “We are putting a lot of pride in the legacy we leave. We want people to see that we are hard-working, humble, good players and most importantly people. We want the next generation to be looking forward to their chance to be a lady Artesian.”

Austin Kelley

Before the women kick off their first ever game, the Artesians men will play their last indoor game of the season with their annual friendly against the Oly Legends all-star team in tribute to Austin Kelley. Austin Kelley, a star player for Olympia High School and Saint Martin’s and an Artesian during the 2015-2016 season, passed away in a tragic accident in 2016 that shocked the entire Olympia area soccer community. Since then, the Artesians have played a game in his honor every year and have made a donation to his family in his memory. This season’s game will kick off at 4:30 before the women’s game.

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Manny Nicasio | Photo: Andrew Repcik

OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Oly Town Artesians will play their last league home game on Saturday night when they welcome Bellingham United to town. First kick at The Pavilion at The Evergreen State College is set for 6:35 PM. It is Wembley Soccer Shop Youth Soccer Night with kids in their youth soccer uniform receiving free admission and their parents admitted for $5. Kids will also have the opportunity to walk out with the players during introductions, be entered into a drawing to compete in the Olympia Jeep’s Artesians Rally at halftime, and much more. Tickets are available at the door and the Well 80 Brewhouse Beer Garden and will be serving fans that are 21 and over.

The Artesians are coming off of two straight draws – a 3-3 push against the Snohomish Skyhawks at The Pavilion two weeks ago and a 5-5 draw against Tacoma Narrows last week – and currently sit in fourth place with eight points, good enough for a playoff spot if they season ended today. But Oly Town faces their two toughest tests of the season over the final two weeks of the season including this week’s game against Bellingham United. The Artesians have never beaten the Hammers and fell to them, 8-1, at the Bellingham Sportsplex in December. Last season, Oly pushed United to the brink before Connor Moe scored the game winner with just 17.5 seconds left to give the Hammers a 5-4 win.

Oly Town is still led by Alec Zimmerman’s seven goals, but he is not expected to play. Collin Tate and Manny Nicasio trail him with five goals apiece while Nate Boatright and Christian Segovia each have four goals. All four are expected to play on Saturday. JJ Olson will get the start in goal again this week where he has a solid 5.78 goals against average and a 2-3-2 record this season.

Bellingham comes to town with three of the four leading scorers in the Western Indoor Soccer League. Nick Cashmere leads the league with 18 goals, although he has only scored once in the second half of the season, while Richard Henderson is third in the league with 13 goals and Eleazar Galvan is fourth with 12 goals. United leads the league with 83 goals scored this season and is second with just 29 goals allowed with a league high +54 goal differential. But they are 6-2-0 and in second place because of two losses to the league leading Tacoma Stars Reserves. Former Artesian Nate Salveson has started every game in goal after making the jump north from Tacoma Narrows just days before the season started.

For fans unable to make it to The Pavilion on Saturday, the game will be webcast on the Artesians Network. Like Oly Town FC on Facebook at FB.com/OlyTownFC to access the link to the webcast.