Oly Town FC ends arena soccer season after heartbreaking semifinal loss

A late second-half rally ended the best season of Oly Town FC men’s arena soccer by far, as the Artesians squandered a three-goal lead at halftime to bow down to higher-seed Everett City FC, 6-5 in the Western Indoor Soccer League semifinal at Everett last Saturday evening.

Up at 4-1 early at halftime, Oly Town FC could not get a grip of their early lead as Everett City FC barraged to a comeback, tying the game twice up to the fourth quarter, until a late Hayden Rubio game-winner sealed Everett’s ticket to the final in the expense of the Artesians.

Despite crashing out of a slot in the final, Oly Town FC wraps up their arena season on a positive note, with head coach Nick Boatright, in his rookie year leading the Artesians arena team, raking a cumulative of 8 wins, two draws, and three defeats – Oly Town’s most successful arena soccer season by far.

The Artesians were flying in the first half, as Joe Sammartino opened the scoring at 6:25 left in the first period before an equalizer from Johan Espinoza gave Everett City a fighting chance early in the second quarter.

Despite this, Oly Town FC opened the scoring floodgates in response as goals from Alex Vogt, Asa Moncivias, and Rainier Schlekewey widened Oly Town’s lead to 4-1 before halftime in what could have been a routine high-scoring treat for the underdogs and just halfway through a finals trip for the first time in club history.

But in the second half, tragedy struck the Artesians as Everett City FC, the only league newcomer this season, made a statement to the whole league as it set a second-half remontada (Spanish term for a comeback), cutting the deficit to one thanks to goals from Edgar Tavares and the second from Espinoza in the third period to set an explosive final quarter of the match.

Early in the fourth, Cristiano Whitaker, Everett City’s top goal scorer this season, added Everett’s fourth goal to tie the game at four apiece. Oly Town’s Moncivias added what could have been Oly Town’s insurance goal as they retake the lead 5-4 in the middle of the closing salvo.

But two late blue cards cost the Artesians as Everett took advantage of the consequent powerplays and scored on both scenarios via Hayden Rubio’s strikes, including the game-winner in the second powerplay, to snatch the finals slot in the expense of a frustrated Oly Town FC.

In the separate semifinal fixture, undefeated Tacoma Stars Reserves did easy work to #4 seed Bellingham United FC, 4-2, to go to their fifth straight WISL championship match, and are looking to defend their WISL championship against Everett.

As a celebration to this successful arena season, Oly Town FC invites their fans to a postseason party at the Lucky Dog Casino on Saturday, March 18 starting 6:30 PM, wherein attendees have a chance to mingle with the players and the Oly Town FC coaches and staff along with prizes to be drawn.