Submitted by Oly Town Artesians
The Oly Town Artesians (1-4-0, 3 points) hit the road on Saturday night, making the short trip up I-5 to take on the Tacoma Stars Reserves (3-2-0, 9 points) at the Tacoma Soccer Center at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday night’s game is a rematch of the Artesians’ 7-5 win on December 16 right before the Holiday break. Tonbra Akpobodor and Matt Stalnik scored twice and goalkeeper JJ Olson made 27 saves to lead Oly Town to their first win of the season. Nate Ford tallied a hat trick and Micah Wenzel scored for the Stars Reserves.
Stalnik and Gabriele Zaccagnini are tied for the team lead with five goals each and JT Meyer and Christian Segovia trail them with four. JJ Olson has made three starts this season and was named Defensive Player of the Week for his effort against Tacoma. Despite just one league win, the Artesians are still in the hunt for the playoffs and are tied in points with Olympic for the fourth and final spot.
The Stars Reserves sit in second place in the Western Indoor Soccer League with nine points, but are six points behind first place Bellingham United. Tacoma and the Artesians are tied for last in the WISL with 30 goals scored this season, but the Stars Reserves have allowed just 25 goals in their five games. Aaron Anderson has been named Defensive Player of the Week twice, including a split of the award with his teammate Mark Lee last week after their 6-3 win over the Snohomish Skyhawks.
Oly Town holds the all-time advantage over the Stars Reserves with a 2-1-1 record over the last three seasons. Their only loss was last season in their lone trip to the Tacoma Soccer Center in the series, a 4-3 last minute loss.
The Artesians return home on Saturday, January 20 when they face the Olympic Force with a possible playoff spot on the line on Toyota of Olympia Night. Game time at The Pavilion is set for 6:30 p.m.
Austin Kelley Awards Night presented by HDR Engineering is coming up on Saturday, January 27. The Artesians will face off against the non-league Oly Legends in a tribute match honoring the memory of Austin Kelley. More details about this exciting evening at The Pavilion will be released shortly.
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