WISL: Oly Town FC extends unbeaten run at home, hands first L of Snohomish Sky, 10-4

With a barrage of goals in the second half, Oly Town FC gave league neophytes Snohomish Sky an indoor soccer league initiation after spanking them 10-4 as the Artesians extended their unbeaten streak at home last Saturday, November 18, in front of a loud Evergreen State College Pavilion crowd as the 2023-24 Western Indoor Soccer League continues.

Manny Nicasio, who also played for the Oly Town FC USL2 team last summer, returned to arena soccer in Olympia and had a remarkable debut this season as his hat trick and two assists led Oly Town in this battering of the league newbies. Gavin McLeroy and Jesus Flores added to the scoring, with both having two goals, while Alan Barragan, Calvin Boyal, and skipper Nate Boatright contributed a goal in their name.

It was a nervy start for Oly Town despite holding most of the possession as the Snohomish Sky tried to capitalize on the home side’s mistakes in the low block with their high press and persistent chasing of the ball, which all paid off six minutes in the first period as a strike from a tight angle opened the scoring as Antino Bellizi made it 1-0 to the visitors up until the end of the first.

Coach Nick Boatright regrouped his men and rotated his players to force a response in the second period, and it was Calvin Boyal from Olympia High who rose to the occasion and slammed the ball from a corner taken quickly to score his first goal of the season and make it even, 1-1, three minutes in the second period.

Oly Town squad huddles up pre-match vs Snohomish Sky

Oly Town continued to hustle for the lead as they paved through the physicality of the Snohomish Sky players that made it hard for the Artesians to sneak through the final third until Boyal, fresh from the momentum of his debut goal, beat his marker and crossed the ball to Gavin McLeroy for the tap-in to make it 2-1 at seven minutes in the second period.

However, it ended 2-2 at halftime after Sky equalized from a direct free kick.

Fresh from halftime, Oly town tried a low block early in the second half to stifle a stingy Snohomish Sky offense, but Isaiah Damschen rose to the occasion as he was faced with several point-blank shots but made several saves to hold the scoreline until a chaotic ruckus in the box was taken advantage by Gavin McLeroy to regain the Oly Town lead finally, 3-2, with less than five minutes left.

And that lead signified the opening of the floodgates as just more than a minute later, Manny Nicasio, fresh from his Evergreen Geoducks stint in the NAIA comps, scored the first of his treble with a thunderous right-footed strike from distance to the top bins to make it 4-2, and another one from an error of the restart made Jesus Flores score to end the period, 5-2.

Since then, it was virtually game over for the lads from Snohomish.

#26 Calvin Boyal celebrates with teammates after scoring his first goal for Oly Town

It’s a fourth-quarter goal-fest for both squads, as Nicasio completed his hat trick, first with a fantastic in-swinging low shot from the left flank and another missile to the top of the net, while Nate Boatright scores from a direct free kick, and Jesus Flores completes his brace after dancing with the opposite goalkeeper, and the icing of the cake for this masterful Oly Town attack is the final goal to debutant Alan Barragan to make it ten goals at the dying seconds of the game.

Snohomish Sky scored two goals from set pieces in the fourth period, but it’s no match to the five-goal barrage of Oly Town. Another highlight of the insane fourth period was a penalty saved by Oly Town goalkeeper Isaiah Damschen to lower the morale of the league newcomers further and seal the shutout win.

This huge win improved Oly Town’s current season record to 2-0-1 (W-D-L) with 6 points and a +5 goal difference, while at the same time, extending their unbeaten streak at home to nine games already, which started way back in February 2022 in the 2021-22 season.

After a Thanksgiving Break this weekend, Oly Town FC will return to WISL action on December 2 to face last season’s finalists, Everett City FC, at the Everett Soccer Arena at 7 p.m. kickoff.