EPLWA Scoreboard: 2018 Season kicks off with four matches

The 2018 Evergreen Premier League season kicked off on Saturday May 5 as 8 clubs took the pitch in four Washington cities and #HometownSoccer returned for its fifth season. See scores and brief recaps from the action below.

Roy Lassiter’s EPLWA coaching debut was a big win for WPFC.

Washington Premier 4-1 Olympic Force

PUYALLUP, WA— Washington Premier (1-0-0) broke open their match with the Olympic Force (0-1-1) by scoring 3 goals in the final 8 minutes of the first half at the WPFC Complex. Brandon Madsen started the rush of goals in the 37th minute off of an assist from Mike Arguello. Soon after it was 2-0 when JJ Schmeck’s cross was headed home by Logan Jones in the 39th. Then WPFC made it 3-0 in the 44th minute when Bubacar Touray glided a shot home on an assist from Eddie Brown. The Force battled in the second half and got one back in the 68th minute when Holton Halfaker scored on an assist from Alex Hernandez. Washington Premier restored their 3-goal margin when the scoring in the match was complete in the 83rd when Tresor Kadima scored an unassised goal.

Washington Premier – Brandon Madsen ’37, Logan  Jones ’39, Bubacar Touray ’44, Tresor Kadima ’83.

Olympic Force – Holton Halfaker ’68

Mt. Baker was a fan watching Oly Town at Bellingham.

Bellingham United 1-1 Oly Town Artesians

BELLINGHAM, WA— The Hammers (0-0-1) and Artesians (0-0-1) exchanged second half goals as BUFC made their league debut at their 2018 home at Phillips 66 Soccer Park (Artesians match report.) Bellingham took a 1-0 lead in the 60th minute when Richard Henderson converted a penalty kick following a foul and yellow card to Oly Town goalkeeper JJ Olson. In the late-going the Artesians got even when JT Meyer centered a ball to Christian Segovia who finished for the visitors in the 85th minute.

Bellingham – Richard Henderson (PK) ’60 Oly Town – Christian Segovia ’85

The Victory talk it over at halftime.

Vancouver Victory 2-1 Yakima United

VANCOUVER, WA— Vancouver Victory (1-0-0) won their home opener over Yakima United (0-1-0) at Harmony Sports Complex. The Victory went up in the 35th minute when Nicholas Ballenger found the back of the net on an unassisted goal. The winner came in the 51st minute when Joe Kenney scored for Vancouver thanks to a set-up from Brian Gonzales. The Hoppers got one back in the 87th minute of play when Cesar Rodriguez connected off of an assist from Briskans Shibale

Vancouver – Nicholas Ballenger ’35, Joe Kenney ’51

Yakima – Cesar Rodriguez ’87

The Lions roared back in their EPLWA debut at Spokane.

Spokane Shadow 2-3 Tri-Cities Alliance

SPOKANE, WA— The Tri-Cities Alliance (1-0-0) made their EPLWA debut a winning on as they rallied in Spokane (0-0-1) to top the Shadow (INW Soccer match report.) Lenin Guzman scored in the 10th minute to put the Lions up 1-0. Spokane was awarded a penalty kick try about 10 minutes later but Mike Ramos’ shot was saved by TCAFC’s Antonio Gonzalez. The Shadow battled back and drew level in the 28th minute when Mike Ramos scored off of an assist from Tanner Williams. Just before the half a second PK was called in favor of the Shadow. This time Tanner Williams converted in the 45th minute to send the Shadow up 2-1 at the half. Th Alliance got their win with goals in the 80th minute and in added time. First Bryan Vargas got the visitors level and then Jason Rodriguez won it for them just before the final whistle.

Spokane – Mike Ramos ’28, Tanner Williams ’45

Tri-Cities – Lenin Guzman ’10, Bryan Vargas ’80, Jason Rodriguez ’90