Oly Town FC draws with South Sound FC in last-ever WISL season home game at the Ice Box

An emotional Oly Town FC will bid farewell to the Evergreen State College Pavilion, their home ground for men’s and women’s arena soccer since 2015, starting their farewell proceedings with a 4-4 draw against St. Helens division rivals South Sound FC last Saturday, January 27, closing their season’s stay in the Ice Box with a 12-game unbeaten run at home.

This stems from the decision of Evergreen State College administration earlier last week to “discontinue public access to the space and re-purpose the facility solely for student-athlete access starting on Spring 2024.”

Regarding the decision, Oly Town FC principal owner Ryan Perkins said they were “a little surprised.”

Oly Town FC is expected to leave the Evergreen State College Pavilion after nine years of serving as home.

“It's a shame because our indoor soccer organization brings thousands to the Evergreen Campus that normally wouldn't go there, but we understand that it's not our ground and it was only leased [to us]." said Perkins.

The unique indoor soccer venue, a roofed pavilion with open-air sides which slightly exposed the crowd and players to the cold and other weather elements thus the moniker “Ice Box”, has been Oly Town’s home venue for arena soccer since a year after the club's inception in 2014. The Ice Box has recently served as a fortress for the Artesian’s WISL side, with the venue witnessing an unbeaten home run from Oly Town starting in February 2022.

And what a fortress it is as an emotionally charged crowd filled up the pavilion Saturday night to cheer for the Artesians, maybe for the last time here at home.

Trailing two goals in the first period, the Artesians produced a fine four-goal performance in the first eight minutes in the second, only to concede twice again before halftime, highlighting the final WISL men’s season game at home for Oly Town.

The visitors scored first blood as Derrick Johnson took advantage of a mistake in the build-up in the back to make it 1-0 in the first minute. It took some time for Oly Town to get back into the groove, with South Sound FC remaining cohesive at the back, frustrating the hosts on power plays.

Misfortune struck twice after a rocket of a shot from Johnson froze everyone to double his goal tally for the visitors, 2-0, just before the end of the first period.

Throwback photo from Oly Town FC's first arena soccer home game in the Evergreen State College Pavilion back in December 2015

But then, again, the Ice Box is a fortress and has not seen the Artesians lose since 2022.

The home turf’s magic could have had the effect for Oly Town as the Artesians started the second period with Gavin Mcleroy starting the comeback for Oly Town with a right-footed rocket of his own to make it 1-2 at thirty seconds in.

The goal party continued five minutes later as Manny Nicasio ran the ball through half of the indoor pitch and finished it easily past the opposite goalkeeper for the equalizer, 2-2, with his 13^th goal of the season.

Oly Town finally got the lead less than two minutes after equalizing as a Manny Nicasio low shot was parried by the keeper before a waiting Jordan Zimmerman blasted the rebound to turn over the tides, 3-2. 

A powerplay was then given to the hosts after a blue card, which the Artesians took advantage of, as a powerful right-footed curler from Jesus Flores made it 4-2 at less than eight minutes left in what could have been the final ever goal at home for Oly Town this season.

Oly fans watching on the Ice sidelines.

South Sound FC then responded with two goals, punishing mistakes in the defensive line for Oly Town to make it four goals square at halftime. With both teams tightening their defenses and struggling to outmaneuver one another in the second half, the final-ever WISL season home game at the Ice Box ended at 4-4.

This win puts Oly Town in third place in the ongoing WISL 2023-24 table, with 19 points from a 6-2-1 win-loss-draw record and a +32-goal differential. Should the Artesians finish one of the top two spots, they still have a chance to return to the Ice Box and host a playoff semifinal match.

A big opportunity to return to the Ice Box for the playoffs is on the plate for Oly Town as they will face current #2 seed Bellingham United at Bellingham on February 10^th at 7:30 p.m. local kickoff.

There's a reason why the Evergreen State College Pavilion is called The Ice Box.