Second half comeback seals Oly Town FC’s first ever win at Everett

Oly Town FC continued to flex their winning form in the ongoing Western Indoor Soccer League season, but this time away from home as the Artesians swung the tides and launched a second-half heatwave to beat Everett City FC on their turf for the first time ever, 4-2, in a game of two contrasting halves at the Everett Soccer Arena last December 2, Saturday evening. 

Last season, he Artesians lost both their games in Everett, which includes a painful come-from-behind semifinal loss wherein Oly Town choked a three-goal lead at halftime to crash out of the playoffs. 

Fortunately, this was not the case this time as a brace from Kasey Sidor, a lead-clinching goal from Nigel Sokkary, and heroics on the penalty spot from substitute goalkeeper Colin Hauser were the perfect storm the Artesians brewed in the second half to overturn a one-goal deficit at halftime to get their first road win and extend their winning streak to three. 

“The match was really competitive” said Oly Town head coach Nick Boatright. “I think there were several momentum swings that changed things for us. Killing the penalty kick and then two power play kills were massive moments for us.” 

The supposed-to-be grudge match for Oly Town started with both teams matching up well in the first half, seeing back and forth play and several key build-ups that resulted in several defensive blocks and good saves from Everett goalkeeper Michael Herrera and Oly Town starting keeper Isaiah Damschen. 

The deadlock in the tense first minutes of the half was then destroyed by Oly Town after Gavin Mcleroy was found unmarked near the penalty box and dribbled past the onrushing Everett goalkeeper for the easy finish to give the visitors the lead at less than three minutes before the end of the first quarter to make it 1-0. 

A different looking Everett took control of the second quarter as the hosts pressed on the Artesian backline and Uriel Herrera topped off an early counterattack with a goal to equalize at just four minutes in the quarter.  

The dominant Everett press continued to frustrate the Oly Town buildup of play and was awarded with another goal after Cam Miller spotted Cristiano Whitaker squeaking in to the Oly Town defense and finished the tap-in to give the lead to Everett before the halftime break, 2-1. 

Quickly after the halftime break, Oly Town took advantage of an early powerplay and it was Kasey Sidor who capitalized for the Artesians with a blast on the roof of the net to bring back to level terms at less than a minute in the third quarter, 2-2. 

Despite slowly building back their confidence in the game, Oly Town still faced adversity as a harsh blue card was shown for goalkeeper Isaiah Damschen after a foul inside the box from a penalty which forced the Artesians to put backup keeper Colin Hauser on the field to face another penalty kick.  

But fortune favored the visitors as Hauser, who came from Evergreen State College, came out victorious and stopped Peter Kingston’s point-blank shot from the penalty spot and remained on for two minutes making multiple key saves, before a returning Damschen sealed the defense shut for Oly Town up to the break. 

Oly Town FC then capitalized the frustration of the hosts not taking advantage of the back-to-back powerplays in the third quarter with their sturdy low block defense in the final minutes that turned into a quick counterattack finished off by Nigel Sokkary dribbling past the keeper to finally bring back the lead to Oly Town, 3-2, at ten minutes left in the match. 

After snatching the lead in the dying minutes, Oly Town was quick to even widen the gap and seal the result as they beat the Everett high line to deliver the ball from a waiting Kasey Sidor in front that easily taps it and beats Herrera on his near post in the seventh minute mark of the fourth quarter to make it 4-2, topping it off with the resilient defending from the visitors to finalize a historic indoor soccer win at Everett for Oly Town. 

This historic win is another three points for Oly Town in the WISL table, in which they sit in 3rd place in the full playoff table and tied for first in the St Helens Division with Sound South FC.  

Oly Town returns home Saturday, December 9, to take on the Vancouver Lightning. This is the first WISL regular season matchup between the two St Helens division foes, although both teams met in a preseason friendly last October where the Artesians won 12-6. 

This Saturday’s home match at the Evergreen State College Pavilion will be the last match for Oly Town FC (or at least the men’s arena soccer team) for the year and kickoff is expected to be at 6 p.m. local time.