FC Olympia men record second win in a row while women breeze past biggest challenge of the season so far

It’s another eventful week for the USL franchises of FC Olympia as the club hosted two weekday fixtures back-to-back at the South Sound Stadium, with both teams traversing their fates in the Northwest Division of their USL leagues.

The Artesians’ men’s team struggles for a playoff spot in the USL League Two, while the women’s team, currently breezing through the W League, faces its biggest challenge in the division so far.

USL2: Fock scores twice as FC Olympia win two games in the bounce

FC Olympia's starting lineup won against Capital FC Atletico.

Last June 19, FC Olympia bagged their second win of the season at the expense of a visiting Capital FC Atletico in a 2-0 win at home, thanks to the heroics of Lennard Fock, who scored both goals for the Artesians.

Fock pounced on his good form as he scored in the 63rd and 89th minute deep in the second half for this vital Artesian win and is currently the club’s top scorer this season in the USL2.

After an uneventful majority of the first half culminating in a goal line clearance by defender Kolja Thomas to make the half goalless, head coach Jason Dunn made his first of a few substitutions at the halftime break, subbing in Chad Sovde, who netted last week’s winner against United PDX FC.

That sub was crucial for turning the tides in the second half, as it provided further attacking prowess after Andre Philibbosian had done much work stabilizing the Artesian midfield.

The fruits of this change in tactics were then harvested in the 63rd, as Philibbosian got a goal kick to Sovde, who ran the ball past the midfield up to the edge of the penalty box, only to cross it to a waiting Lennard Fock for a first-time right-footed shot with the goal that finally beaten the keeper and gave the hosts the lead.

The visiting Salem-based side tried to equalize directly, but their efforts were stifled by the Artesian defense, which required some saves from keeper Jackson Ozburn.

With the sun setting, Tanner Dutra delivers a free kick to Lennard Fock, who then outmuscles past two defenders at the edge of the penalty box and deliver a lovely left-footed strike to beat the keeper again and seal the win for the Artesians at the 89th minute.

With two home wins on the bounce, the Artesians finally got out of the bottom of the standings, as they are currently in 6th place after 7 points in 6 matches.

They will then strive to maintain their winning form against current division leaders Ballard FC at the Memorial Stadium on Sunday, June 23.

USL W League: FC Olympia extends division dominance after beating #2 United PDX FC

FC Olympia huddles to talk about strategy before their huge win vs United PDX FC.

In a heavyweight clash at the top of the North West Division, FC Olympia passed its first big test of the season with flying colors, albeit some early struggles, as the women Artesians pummel title challengers United PDX FC in a 4-2 goal-fest for the best in the North West, widening the gap over the visitors last June 20 still at the South Sound Stadium.

It was a rubber match right from the start, with the visitor having the shock opening goal from a fantastic curler of a shot from Nedya Sawan beating FC Olympia keeper Murphy Sheaff just six minutes in. Five minutes later, Sadie Sider-Echenberg buried the equalizer from a right-footed strike from outside the box to make it 1-1 early in the 11th.

The close match continued to plague in the first half as a build-up for a counterattack from the Artesians led to a goal in the 38th minute as the hosts regained the lead before a determined United PDX FC were no pushovers as they equalized through a Taylor Krueger effort as the first half slugfest ended at two goals apiece.

The tug-of-war for the top spot continued in the second half, as both teams struggled to contain the midfield, with FC Olympia forcing it long to direct the attack while the visitors tried to sneak in counters but to no avail and thanks to some saves from substitute keeper Shu Ohba.

Then in the 64th, Maia Tabion, who gave both assists on the two goals from FC Olympia in the opener, continued to shine on his POTM form as he whips in a curler from a free kick to the top bin of the far post to get past the keeper to finally regain the lead for the hosts, 3-2.

Since then, United PDX has not responded well, and the icing on the cake was a counterattack in the 71st minute. Serita Thurton beat the offside trap and dribbled past the keeper to an open finish to seal the win for the Artesians, four goals from four different scorers.

The gap between the top 2 Northwest division sides widened to eight points after this win, as FC Olympia were perfect with eight wins in eight matches so far, scoring a total of 42 goals and conceding only three, the lowest goals conceded by a USL W League team so far tied with AHFC Royals in the Lone Star Division.

If United PDX FC loses its next game against Lane United FC this Sunday, it will confirm FC Olympia’s return to the USL national playoffs.

The Artesians will then face a lowly Tacoma Galaxy FC at home on June 28th before ending the season with a visit to United PDX FC on the 30th.