USL Women: Cox continues FC Olympia’s winning ways

The Raphael Cox tenure in FC Olympia started business-as-usual for the club as he got his first USL W League win as their new head coach, with FC Olympia beating Tacoma Galaxy 3-0 at their perch last Saturday evening, June 8, at the Bellarmine Memorial Stadium in Tacoma.

It could be remembered that FC Olympia changed their head coach last Wednesday, June 5th, with University of Washington Huskies women’s soccer assistant coach Raphael Cox taking over and replacing former gaffer Ben Willis, who will be joining as coach of a USL Super League team. Willis’s last game for the Artesians was on the same date, where he coached an 8-0 trouncing of Lane United FC at the South Sound Stadium.

The first order of business for Cox at the helm was the long trip near the border for a visit against Tacoma Galaxy, who had somewhat of a slump in form after losing to United PDX 6-1 a week ago. This is sort of sentimental for the Tacoma-born-and-raised new coach.

And he passed with flying colors, with midfielder Maia Tabion opening the floodgates for a McKenna Martinez brace as the Artesians easily took care of the league newcomers 3-0, their second win against the same team who they already beat 4-0 in the opening match this season.

In his second year in the club, Martinez is currently the top scorer for the Artesians in the USL W League, with her double in Tacoma adding to her current tally of six goals shipped in the last five matches.

Ohba returns

The match also featured the return of Shu Ohba in goal as she is back from her international duties. The 21-year-old goalkeeper represents Japan in the world stage and just got her first appearance for the senior national team, playing in goal against New Zealand last May 31 in a friendly match in Spain.

This win extended FC Olympia’s unbeaten run in the Northwest Division to five in a row and they will face two quick games this weekend – a return home to South Sound Stadium versus Capital FC Atletica on Friday, June 14, and a trip to Oregon to face bottom feeders Lane United FC on Sunday, June 16.

In other news, the men’s FC Olympia side, who are reeling from a bad spell in the USL League Two, seeks to return to league action with their needed confidence as they beat Crossfire Premier, 3-2, in an exhibition match last Friday, June 7.

Chad Sovde clinched the hat trick as he scored all three goals for the Artesians, who will return to USL2 action to face United PDX FC at the South Sound Stadium on Wednesday, June 12.