Submitted by Oly Town Artesians
Oly Town FC exploded for two goals in the 49th minute and goalkeeper JJ Olson made five saves and kept a clean sheet to lead the Artesians to a 3-0 win over Tri-Cities Alliance in Sunday afternoon Evergreen Premier League action at Edgar Brown Stadium in Pasco.
Despite many good chances in the first half for both teams, both Olson and Alliance keeper Jose Herrera avoided any damage for the first 45 minutes and both teams went to the break without a score.
But the Artesians finally put it all together in the 49th minute beginning with Shelton High School senior Manny Nicasio’s first goal in his first game that made it 1-0. Just moments later, following a turnover off of the Tri-Cities restart, Evergreen State product Tino Pantaleon scored his first goal as an Artesian and Oly Town took a commanding 2-0 lead.
After allowing the second goal, Tri-Cities picked up the pressure, but Oly was able to weather the storm and dominated play over the final 30 minutes. Pasco’s Jesus Meraz-Rodriguez, also playing in his first game for Oly Town on his high school’s field, added an insurance goal in the 85th minute to ice the game away.
The Alliance had a couple of decent chances over the final seven minutes of play, but Olson and the backline of Collin Tate, Collin LaBranche and Nate Boatright kept the shutout and Oly Town earned their first victory of the season with a 3-0 win.
The win moves Oly Town to 1-3-0 on the season but more importantly, they are just one point behind Yakima United for second place in the Cascade Conference. Bellingham United, coming off a pair of weekend wins, sits in first place with nine points.
The Artesians and the EPLWA now take a break for Memorial Day. Oly Town will be back in action on Sunday, June 2nd when they host the second round of the Washington State Super Cup at Black Hills High School. They will face either BeSea FC of Bellevue or ISC Gunners of Issaquah in the second round of the statewide, single elimination tournament. First kick is set for 4:00 PM.
Oly returns to EPLWA action on Sunday, June 9th when Bellingham United visits Black Hills. It is Artesians 500 night and Oly Town will attempt to pack the park by offering soccer clubs, teams and other non-profits the opportunity to raise some funds by selling tickets. If your club or non-profit would like to raise some money, watch some high quality soccer and have some fun, contact the Artesians at artesians@olytownfc.com or by calling Brandon Sparks at (360) 561-7252.
Stay up to date with the Artesians by visiting the Oly Town Artesians website, following them on Twitter, and liking them on Facebook.
