Submitted by Oly Town Artesians
Steven Rogers scored two goals and Tyler Bjork added a goal to his all-time Evergreen Premier League record in the Seattle Star’s 4-0 win over the Oly Town Artesians at Starfire Stadium on Sunday night. It was a tough night for the Artesians defense, who had allowed just four goals all season long prior the loss.
Both teams came out of the gates firing, with early misses by the Stars and three quick dangerous shots by the Artesians in the first five minutes, but neither team was able to break through. Oly dodged a bullet after a bad turnover lead to a great opportunity for Seattle that sailed just wide in the 16th minute and JJ Olson punched away a dangerous Stars free kick in the 25th.
Seattle finally got on the board in the 37th minute when Steven Rogers gathered a ball that slipped past multiple Seattle attackers and Artesians defenders and fired a shot that put the Stars up 1-0, a lead that would hold up at halftime.
After the break, it was all Stars. Seven minutes into the half, Cody Buchanan sprinted down the right side of the box and looked to be covered, but his shot got around the defender and fooled Olson and found a home in the back of the net to give the Stars a 2-0 lead. From there, Rogers scored his second off a corner kick in the 57th and Bjork scored his 49th goal all-time in EPLWA play to put Seattle up 4-0 in the 70th. Stars keeper Rhys Salmon kept Oly off the board the rest of the way for his first clean sheet.
The win moved Seattle to 4-2-0 overall and they took the lead in the highly competitive EPLWA Coastal Division with 12 points. Vancouver picked up a controversial win when they were awarded a penalty kick on a phantom tackle by a Tri-Cities defender in the 89th minute. They buried the PK and took the 2-1 decision to move into second place in the division. Oly Town, despite sitting at 2-1-2 at the halfway point, are in third in the division with eight points.
The Artesians return home on Saturday, June 16th to take on the Tri-Cities Alliance. The first 50 fans through the gates will receive an Oly Town crest magnet. First kick is set for 6:00 PM and tickets can be purchased at www.olytownfc.com/tickets.
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Featured photo credit: Quinn Width
