Steelheads Edge Artesians To Claim Spot In NWPLi Final

OLYMPIA, WA—The Snohomish County FC Steelheads beat the Oly Town Artesians 6-5 in a pulsating finish on Saturday night at The Pavilion on the campus of The Evergreen State College to claim a spot in the 2022 Northwest Premier League Indoor championship match.

The Steelheads controlled the first half of the match, using their tight defense and the saves of Kaitlin MacKenzie and leadership of Mariah Roggow to shut out Oly Town 3-0 at the break. The second half saw the Artesians offense come alive and it was eventually all tied up at 5-5 in the fourth quarter before an Alicia Barker goal put SnoCo FC up 6-5. The Fish saw the match out, using a power play advantage to keep the Artesians off the scoreboard in the final few minutes.

Watch a full match broadcast from the Artesians below.

Jordyn Bartelson scored twice for the Fish. The first was a blast that gave SnoCo FC a 1-0 lead near the end of the first quarter. Her second made it 5-3 with just seconds left in the third quarter.

The Artesians rallied to even the match at 5-5 with 7 minutes left to play. Just 20 seconds later the Fish answered back when Barker scored the match-winner.

The nervous remaining minutes were scoreless as both sides sought to control the match. The Artesians had their chances, but the Steelheads kept their composure to see out a huge 6-5 win. The Fish have now won five straight matches and have a record of 5-1-1. Their 16 standings points put them into the league championship match against the Tacoma Galaxy.

The Steelheads and Galaxy have one match left in their regular seasons — and it is against each other next week in Tacoma. The winner of that match will get to host the championship tentatively scheduled for Saturday April 23.

Snohomish Goals: Jordyn Bartelson (2), Anna Roslander, Sarah Stochel, Estrela Levinte, Alicia Barker.

2022 NWPLi Standings (as of 4.10.22)