The Gulls travel to Olympia on Wednesday night to play the Oly Town Artesians of the Evergreen Premier League at Black Hills High School at 7:30pm. This is the first semifinal match of the Washington State Super Cup. The winner will advance to play the winner of Kirkland FC and Nido Aguila Seattle in the final at the Washington Premier Complex on Friday, July 12. The two teams met on May 29 in Olympia in a friendly match, with the Artesians coming out 3-2 winners.
The Artesians advanced to the semifinals with a 7-0 route of ISC Gunners in the quarterfinals. Oly Town pinned back ISC from the start, and the Gunners never recovered. Currently sitting in 4th in the 5-team Cascade Conference, Oly Town comes into the match off of a 2-1 win over Oly-Pen Force in Bremerton. Surf Wodajo, Manny Nicasio, and Jesus Meraz-Rodriguez lead the Artesians with 2 goals each. The Artesians are led by new coach Tom Boatright who is 2-1 since taking charge.
The Gulls come into the match riding a four game winning streak, including a 2-0 State Cup quarterfinal win over Harbor Force. The Gulls will be missing Juan Oropeza, who has 3 goals and 3 assists on the season, due to double yellows in the quarterfinal match. Oropeza scored twice and assisted once in the Gulls 4-2 win over ISC Gunners last weekend. The Gulls sit 5th in the WWPL after a bye this weekend.
While the match is a friendly rivalry, this is the first competitive meeting between the two clubs who compete in different leagues. The match will be played under different rules, which allow just three subs during the duration of the match.
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