Submitted by Oly Town Artesians
For the second time in three days, Kyle Witzel scored the lone goal for the Oly Town Artesians in a 1-1 draw, including the equalizer tonight against the Vancouver Victory at Wembley Soccer Shop Field. Witzel’s 66th minute goal evened things up after Moi Diaz scored for the Victory in stoppage time of the first half. Goalkeeper JJ Olson made four saves in the draw that moved the Artesians to 4-4-3 with 15 points in their inaugural season in the Evergreen Premier League.
It took over 45 minutes before either team broke through in an evenly played but rough first half. Diaz scored his second goal of the season on a pass from Jessie Garcia just before the half came to an end and gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead going into halftime.
The Artesians continued to struggle to put the ball on frame, registering just one shot on goal amongst their seven shots, but that one shot on goal came in the 66th minute when Kyle Witzel received a pass from Alec Zimmerman that made the entire Vancouver defense stop and plead for an offsides call. They did not receive it and Witzel dribbled around Victory goalkeeper Trevor Wilson to score an easy goal to level the game at 1-1.
Both teams had fantastic chances in the final 24 minutes including another last second opportunity for the Artesians’ opponent that was foiled and both teams earned a point with the 1-1 draw.
Vancouver outshot the Artesians 9-7 including five shots on goal, but they also out-fouled the Artesians, 16-10, including four fouls called on Kazuki Tateishi. Both teams picked up a yellow card, the first to Oly Town’s Sasa Yodkerepauprai in the 41st minute and an 80th minute caution to the Victory’s Kevin Stordahl.
The Artesians stayed in fourth place, three points behind the third place Victory, who moved to 5-3-3 with 18 points and are still in the thick of things in the EPLWA race.
Oly Town continues their three game homestand on Saturday night when they will try to slow down EPLWA goal king Tyler Bjork and the first place Seattle Stars. First kick is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and gates open at 5:15 p.m.
Follow the Artesians all season long by visiting the Oly Town Artesians website, following them on Twitter, and liking them on Facebook.
