Oly Town FC men’s team qualifies for USL2 nat’l playoffs

Despite losing the final match 2-1 against fourth-place, United PDX FC in front of almost 400 home supporters last Friday, July 14, the Oly Town FC men’s squad secured their ticket for a USL2 playoff spot as they finished the season as the second seed in the Northwest Division with 20 points from a 6-2-4 win-draw-loss record.

A 3-1 win from an already qualified Ballard FC against Oly Town’s tight playoff rival Capital FC Atletico last Wednesday evening kicked the Salem-based side out of the playoffs, while the result just confirmed the last playoff spot for the Artesians in the 2023 USL2 season before this season’s final kickoff at South Sound Stadium. Last week, Oly Town blanked Capital FC, 2-0, on their home pitch that widened the gap between the two sides vying for the number two spot.

“If you can’t have fun with this league, you can’t have fun at all. Everything is a bit of chaos, but you gotta embrace it and go with it. It’s been a memorable season, I would say.” said Head Coach Liviu Bird referring to the crazy run by the Artesians this season.

Back to South Sound, the celebrations were paused for the final outdoor soccer match of the year in Olympia as Bird fielded his best in-form XI led by captain Jack Sluys in defense and Charlie Lanphier in between the gates despite the assured spot for postseason contention. 

Oly Town FC's starting XI

The jovial Oly Town squad was abruptly brought back to reality as United PDX FC struck first from a quick goal by Jackson Finn just 52 seconds from the opening kick. It would remain this until halftime when it ended 1-0 after 45 minutes.

Despite this, the gaffer rotated the squad mainly to avoid unnecessary injuries in the more important fixtures in the coming postseason, using all of his substitutes early in the second half while trailing. After which, the visitors doubled their lead after taking advantage of a sloppy sideways pass from the back that launched a counterattack from the white shirts leading to a strike from Ben Augee beating substitute goalkeeper Ryan Saunders.

The Artesians then quickly responded with a consolation goal coming from Bulgarian substitute Pavel Valchev in the 78^th with an overpowered cross from the right midfield arching above the opposite goalie in an attempt to bring one back. Despite the late burst of energy due to that goal and the persistence of getting an equalizer, the United PDX survived the Artesian flurry until the final whistle.

In spite of the anti-climatic end, this punctuates the second season of Oly Town FC in the USL2, with their record improving from the 3-2-7 win-draw-loss record from the inaugural season last year and showing character throughout the 12 matches this season to put playoff glory in the record books.

“We got off to a slow start but it would be a good learning experience heading into the playoffs next week. We’ll know to get on it on the jump and hopefully come out with a better result.” said skipper Jack Sluys in a post-match interview.

The Oly Town organization found themselves in a unique position nationwide sending two teams to the USL national playoffs. Both USL W League and USL League Two teams from Oly Town advanced which is a rare feat in the USL to do.

After this match, the lads will wait for their upcoming opponents for the national playoffs, tentatively set for Friday, July 21, at the Interbay Stadium in Seattle.