Friday, November 7, 2025
Intent to become Northwest Division’s top representatives early on this year’s outdoor soccer season, the Oly Town Artesians’s men’s and women’s teams kicked off their respective USL campaigns to a flying start as they blanked their counterparts in PDX FC, with the men scoring three goals while the women have two goals unanswered, at the South Sound Stadium on Mother’s Day, May 14th.
It was a dominant win for both Oly Town teams, which have been preparing for their participation in this year’s USL leagues, notably the Women Artesians with their inaugural appearance in USL W this season, with immense tryouts which started in January this year and extensive scouting from universities all over the country to build the team, all of which paid off for men’s coach Liviu Bird and women’s coach Chris Wells.
The double header at Oly Town’s new home at the 1,500-seater South Sound Stadium started with the men’s games with the Artesians hoping to improve from their maiden appearance in the USL2 last season, ending at a 3-2-7 win-draw-loss record, with this season opener against a familiar PDX FC side which beat them twice that same season.
But all ghosts of the past were erased as Colin Brunell, one of Oly Town’s new signings for the season, netted the Artesians’ first goal of the season with an impressive run from the right flank and breezing past the PDX defense eight minutes from kickoff. The hosts held on just enough to lead at the halftime break with that lone goal.
After halftime, Oly Town doubled the lead as Brunell, a former University of Washington midfielder, scored again after the Artesians capitalized on a PDX mistake and pressed higher in the midfield, before Allen Escalante nutmegs a defender to assist the goal to make it 2-0 just three minutes in after halftime.
With the hosts just being dominant in possession in the majority of the game while handling PDX FC’s counterattacks with ease, thanks to a stifling defense and goalkeeping antics by the man between the gates, Charlie Lanphier, Oly Town FC closed the show with substitute Trevor Thompson tapping in from a Desmond Wade cross at 90+3’ to seal the 3-0 win for Oly Town FC.
“Really, every player who stepped on the field and even those who we had to leave out have all been great so far this season” said men’s coach Liviu Bird after the match. “We continue to stress that we won’t get anywhere individually without the collective effort and the team behind everything we do, and that showed nicely in our first game of the season.”
The Oly Town lads will stay in South Sound Stadium for the next fixture on Sunday, May 21, as they will host Seattle-based Ballard FC, last season’s second-place team in the Northwest Division, at 3:00 PM kickoff.
Right after the men’s game, Oly Town FC ladies stepped into the pitch and did not disappoint in their debut match in their inaugural season in the league, beating their Portland-based counterparts, with two goals unanswered in front of a sweltering home support.
It was a shaky start for the ladies which, admittedly, was due to the lack of familiarity and shorter training time together, took them some time to unpuzzle the PDX defense, until the breakthrough goal came out from Kendall Sarver at the 26th minute after dazzling her defender and leaving the opposition goalkeeper like Bambi on ice to gift Oly Town its first competitive goal in the club’s women’s football history.
From then on it was all Oly Town FC in the match, with the midfielder Sydney Stephens commanding the core of attack and defense until the insurance goal late in the 78th-minute courtesy of a Hail Mary goal from Osaka-born and former Japan women’s national team U-16 player Suzuka Yosue to seal this historic win for the Artesians.
Data and quotes courtesy of FC Olympia.
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