FC Olympia’s quest for another year of dominance in the USL W League Northwest Division is off to a flying start as they took light work of Tacoma Galaxy in a thumping 4-0 win in front of the Olympia faithful despite rainy conditions at South Sound Stadium on Saturday evening, May 18.
Four goals from four different goal scorers were shipped by the Artesians in an initiation spanking to the newest member of the division, with goals from Mariah Lee, Kailee Wilson, Ameera Hussen, and Sadie Sider-Echenberg guaranteeing all three points plus the clean sheet nod for goalkeeper Murphy Sheaff in her debut start for the club.
“I’m proud of this group,” said FC Olympia Head Coach Ben Willis. “First game of the season, never playing a game together before and they competed from minute one together.”
It was a banging first few minutes for FC Olympia as they came knocking on the attack early on, which paid off eight minutes in as the returning Northwest Division MVP Mariah Lee opened her scoring account this season with a low corner shot from a driven cross delivered by new signing Radisson Banks to draw first blood.
Since then, it was an uneventful half for the Artesians, who are just developing their team chemistry this season, as head coach Ben Willis fielded a mix of returning players from last year’s national playoff squad and recruits to figure out their groove against a younger Tacoma side, retaining the one-goal advantage until halftime.
And it seems like they figured out their style of play in the second half as the floodgates were opened in the first minutes from the break. Lee, surrounded in the middle, found a sprinting Serita Thurton on the right wing and crossed the ball to an open Kailee Wilson from the substitutes bench to double the Artesian lead at the 55th.
The scoring spree continued for the home side as new signing Amaeera Husseen scored for the Artesians. Peyton Chick, usually playing from a deep right wing-back position, pierced through the Tacoma midfield with a lovely through ball to the attacking midfielder Husseen, who took on a defender before finishing past the goalie to seal the game in the 67th minute.
A penalty given was the cherry on top for the Artesians as Thurton, who was immense all night at the right flank forced a handball against her defender to force the call right after the recent goal. Sadie Sider-Echenburg then calmly converted from the spot as the Artesians held for the clean sheet until the final whistle.
“The first half the players were learning about each other,” said Ben Willis. “The second half we started to click.”
The FC Olympia women will have a six-day break before traveling to Eugene, Oregon to play against Lane United, on May 24, at 7 p.m. at Civic Park, and will return home on June 2nd to play a friendly match against the Reign FC (WPSL).
The USL2 men of FC Olympia will begin conference play on Friday, May 24, on the road at Tacoma at 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Bellarmine Prep High School, while they will debut their season at home against Lane United on Sunday, May 26th, 2 p.m.
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