Oly Town FC loses barnburner season opener in Tacoma

Local pro-am (professional-amateur) soccer club Oly Town Artesians FC opened the Western Indoor Soccer League (WISL) season with a tight road game last Saturday at the Tacoma Soccer Center, losing 5-2 against defending champions Tacoma Stars Reserves.

Oly Town FC kept the contest neck-and-neck until the Artesians ran out of gas and lost control of the wheel late in the 4^th period.

“Our intention going into the game with the Stars reserves was to keep it tight” said Head Coach Nick Boatright.

The Artesians kick off this season with a revamped squad after departures from noted arena players Jason Fairhurst, Alex Vogt, Brett Stallworth, Mitchell Balmer, and Rainier Schlekewey, who all helped Oly Town FC in their WISL campaign last season to finish as semifinalists for the first time in the club’s arena soccer history.

Coach Nick fielded a mix of promising young talent and newcomers as fruits of the club’s intensive scouting and tryouts in the off-season, along with re-signings from last season, including goalkeeper Isaiah Damschen, striker Kasey Sidor, defender TR Jewitt, and captain Nate Boatright.

The nerves and chemistry of this revamped Oly Town squad were tested early in the season opener as the defending champs, led by pro arena soccer players Felipe Souza and Eddie Na, peppered shots early and challenged the mettle of Oly Town’s defense. Damschen fortunately stifled the attacks with 11 saves before conceding a goal, yielding a 1-0 Tacoma lead at halftime.

The most notable returnee for Oly Town was goalkeeper JJ Olson, who entered the game as a sub in the game’s second half. Olson holds the career goalkeeping appearance record for Oly Town, with 34 matches dating back to 2017, and returns to arena soccer after a two-year break from playing.

“I was unable to play due to family reasons, with three kids and my wife graduating from nursing school. I had to be there for my family first. But it felt really good to get back on the field,” said Olson.

Olson was swiftly tested in the second half of the game as foul trouble from Oly Town led to powerplays that held the Artesian defense busy throughout the half, producing two goals for Tacoma in the process.

Despite the chaos, debutant player Safwan Ismael scored the first goal for Oly Town in this season’s WISL by sneaking the ball from a scramble in front of the Tacoma box in the third period to reduce Tacoma’s lead at 3-1.

Captain Nate Boatright also added another goal for Oly Town in the fourth, but the outgassed FC were just not good enough to be at pace with the defending champions as the match finished 5-2.

The Artesians head home on Saturday, November 4, to take on the Olympic Peninsula Force, or Oly-Pen Force, on their first game of the season amid home support at the Evergreen State College Pavilion. Kickoff will be at 6 p.m..

“I am most excited for our fans and to celebrate this great community” said Boatright. “The team is always going to play hard and do their best, but we get an extra boost playing in front of them.”