Oly Town Artesians FC’ journey this year has come to an end after succumbing to a 3-0 defeat to Northwest Division champs and interstate rivals Ballard FC last July 23, Sunday afternoon at the Interbay Stadium in Seattle.
Coming from a shutout 4-0 win against previously undefeated Park City Red Wolves SC in the Round of 32, Oly Town ground to a back-and-forth possession war with Ballard FC in the inter-state rivalry, but the hosts were just too much and took enough to push through the next stage of the USL2 playoff.
The Artesians started on the back foot early in kickoff, taking advantage on their physicality and organized defense to keep the scores clean in the first 20 minutes, with a big chance for Oly Town coming from a right-footed curler from Manny Nicasio just saved by the opposite goalkeeper.
Minutes later, Ballard drew first blood after their captain Lesia Thetsane was caught unmarked in the penalty box and hit a low strike going past through Oly Town goalkeeper Charlie Lanphier, who had a great season between the sticks, to make it 1-0 at 29 minutes.
Oly Town’s defense held tight for the rest of the half to keep the scoreline going into the halftime break.
For the Artesians, several substitutions were made by head coach Liviu Bird at the start of the second half due to excessive heat on the field and tired legs.
With the match still up for grabs, Oly Town, with some fresh legs from the bench, came out strong at the start of the second half, as they applied pressure on the goal but just to no avail.
Despite gaining momentum for the equalizer, Oly Town struck bad luck as Federico Russo had a late challenge in the box after running over Ballard’s Khai Brisco that gave Ballard a penalty and the subsequent goal from the spot for the Bridges to go up 2-0. Russo has had an unlucky spell when facing Ballard, as from the past fixture on the same venue, he was sent off from another rash challenge.
Oly Town never gave up despite being two goals down, but the momentum on the home side in front of their local supporters was just too much as they delivered the knockout blow in the 81st after the Ballard front caught the Oly Town defense snoozing after what they thought was an offside position, only for Ballard to crowd the box and find the winner from Declan McGlynn to make it 3-0 as Oly Town crashes out of the playoffs.
This concludes a four-match year between the two clubs in the so-called Battle of the Sound, with Oly Town winning one in their last regular season game in a 3-2 classic at the Interbay.
Despite the defeat against their local rivals, Oly Town had a massive year after placing fourth in 2022 by finishing 2023 in second with a 7-2-5 overall record and getting the #2 seed in the Northwest to enter the national playoffs. The Artesians had a win in the postseason during the round of 32, the first in the club’s history in USL competition out of all programs
Oly Town thanked the USL2 and USL W players, staff, and coaches to close out the year on social media postgame.
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