USL W: Rampant Oly Town FC humiliate CFC Atletica in stunning 7-0 win

In an exclamation point to their inaugural year in the USL W League, Oly Town FC thrashed fellow league rookies Capital FC Atletica at their home pitch, with Chris Wells’s women putting in a scintillating performance and hitting seven unanswered goals last Wednesday, June 21, at the McCulloch Stadium in Salem, OR.

A brace from Mariah Lee and goals from McKenna Martinez, Suzuka Yosue, Madison Kemp, and Nicole Icen, plus an own goal, secured a completely dominant 7-0 victory in Oregon, making this the biggest win so far by this Oly Town squad in their hunt for #1 seed in the Northwest.

It was a dominant performance for the Lady Artesians right from the start, as the visitors controlled the ball movement in the midfield early after kickoff, which led to the first goal in the 11^th minute after Mariah Lee intercepted a bad pass from Atletica and ran through the defense to deliver the ball to McKenna Martinez that left the opposite goalkeeper in the wrong position for the finish.

Sensing the loose defense of Atletica, the Artesians showed their speed on the pitch as they tried to dribble freely to the hosts’ midfield and minutes after the first, Oly Town makes it 2-0 after a Mariah Lee’s rebound of a parried attempt from Ava Uribe.

Although the hosts had their chances, there was no way their attempts would faze the Oly Town goalkeeper Megan Nail, as their shots just went way off target. The third goal came from an open header from Suzuka Yosue after a fantastic cross from Martinez in the 27^th minute.

Mariah Lee makes it four after receiving this header from a corner kick.

Still relentless after a comfortable three-goal cushion and finding their opponents running out of gas, Oly Town sealed the deal with the fourth coming from a corner set piece, which has been a good source of goals for the Artesians throughout this season, to which Mariah Lee finishes for her second goal in this match. The half ends at 4-0.

An ambitious attempt from Sydney Stephens outside the box just goes above the crossbar.

Second half

With this advantage, Oly Town FC switched to second gear in the second half, with Chris Wells resting key players and rotating the squad to keep the whole roster match fit approaching the tail end of this successful debut season for the Lady Artesians.

Despite that, Oly Town still can’t stop scoring after an unfortunate own goal after an Atletica defender deflected a McKenna Martinez attempt to make it 5-0 in 52’. In my opinion, that goal should count for McKenna, but it stands as an own goal according to the official W League website.

With 5-0 up in less than an hour, it’s time for some substitutes to step up and with Atletica virtually hoisting the white flag, it has become more one-sided than it ever was, with most of the Oly Town attempts just too tame for the opposite goalkeeper or too wide.

The cherry on top came in the game’s final minutes as two substitutes put their name on the scoresheet.

Maddie Kemp, which came in for Uribe, gave the sixth goal for Oly Town after beating her markswoman with a spin move and a feint in the box and the goalkeeper with an easy finish in the 89^th while 7-up came in later in stoppage time after substitute Nicole Icen gets his first goal for the Artesians.

Nicole Icen ices the match with Oly Town’s seventh goal in the match.

This vital win made Oly Town the sole leader of the Northwest Division while still being undefeated with 17 points as we approach to the final three matches of the round robin. The Artesians will then face PDX FC away from home in June 24^th at Sam Barlow Field in Portland; then they will return home on June 30 for the first women’s match at night under the floodlights at South Sound.