Submitted by Oly Town FC
It was a hot spring day in Thurston County last Sunday, May 14 as the Oly Town Artesians opened USL competition in winning fashion at South Sound Stadium. Both the USL men’s team and the USL women’s team featuring new coaching staffs and several new players looked to start a new beginning in 2023. The women with their first ever USL W League season and the men in their second USL campaign. Sunday kicked off a 10-game season for the Oly Town Women and a 12-game table for the men. Both compete in the Northwest Division of their respective USL leagues.
USL Men | Oly Town FC 3 PDX FC 0
The men opened the day against PDX FC who Oly Town played in 2022 three times during the regular season with PDX FC getting the better of Oly Town 2-1-0. That was not the case Sunday as the Artesians put 3 goals on PDX with a Cooper Brunell brace (2 Goals) and Trevor Thompson coming off the bench and scoring in the 90th minute.
“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 Coach Liviu Bird. “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.”
Charlie Lanphier got the last minute nod at goalkeeper and held on to the shutout with a few fantastic, point blank shot saves from the PDX attackers. The defense was stifling most of the day with several blocks and excellent positioning to thwart PDX forwards in the attacking third.
USL League Two Starting Lineup
GK: Lanphier Defense: Sluys, Lapointe-Guevara, Famuditimi, Eldridge Midfield: Brunell, Sent, Escalante Forwards: De La Luz, Fairhurst, Wade
Subs: Peretti,Thompson, Valchev, Nicasio, Zimmerman
Goals: Brunel (8′, 48′) Thompson (90′) Assists: Escalante, Wade Shutout: Lanphier (4 saves)
Van Dorm POTW: Cooper Brunell w/ 2 Goals
USL Women | Oly Town FC 2 PDX FC 0
The USL W League kicked off with a 2-0 win and the first in club history for the women’s USL program. Chris Wells spent the offseason recruiting hard bringing in several international and domestic talent to Olympia, WA and it showed Sunday.
The women got on the board in the 26th minute by Kendyl Sarver and in the 78th minute with Suzuka Yosue. The match saw Diera Walton begin the match in goal and Japan National Team Goalkeeper Shu Ohba entering the match in the second half.
“It seemed like we were right on the cusp of unlocking a lot of opportunities in the final third” said USL women’s coach Chris Wells. “It was definitely promising knowing with a little more continuity and chemistry, we could become a very dangerous team going forward.”
The defense held PDX to a shutout to seal an Artesian victory. The Artesians have a quick turnaround and travel to Eugene, OR to face Lane United Friday in their first meeting between each other in this USL W League expansion division. “It’ll be another week of finding who we are as a group and building towards that idea” said Coach Wells regarding this short training week.
USL W League Starting Lineup
GK: Walton Defense: Bowler, Green, Bunnell Midfield: Eddy, Yonaha, Stephens, Yosue, Uribe Forwards: Sarver, Murison
Subs: Ohba, Tapia, Lins, Green, Hobbs
Goals: Sarver, Yosue Shutout: Walton, Ohba
Van Dorm POTW: Sydney Stephens
Next Up
USL WOMEN | OLY TOWN FC AT LANE UNITED
7 p.m. Friday, May 19 | @ Lane United | Civic Park | Eugene, OR
USL MEN | BALLARD FC AT OLY TOWN FC
3 p.m. Sunday, May 21 | Home vs Ballard FC | South Sound Stadium | Olympia, WA | Tickets Click Here
Get your streaming tickets now if you can’t make the May 21 Ballard FC match in Olympia. Tickets are located at the Oly Town FC website and follow the Artesians on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for live updates.
