FC Olympia are leaving the state capitol and coming to Seattle this Friday, May 15th at 7:30pm for Ballard FC’s Home Opener. The fifth season of Ballard FC soccer begins this weekend at Interbay Stadium.
Ballard FC, the 2025 Western Conference Champions, will look to get their title defense started on the right foot with a season opening victory on Friday night. In addition to winning the conference, Ballard FC secured their third straight NW Division Title last year, and now they are aiming to make it four in a row. With 18 returners from the 2025 team and lots of new talent joining the squad, Ballard FC have a stacked roster and were ranked second in the nation in the first edition of the 2026 USL League Two Power Rankings. Read the roster deep dive and the 2026 preseason preview. Now let’s meet Friday’s visitors.
FC Olympia
FC Olympia entered USL League Two in 2022 at the same time as Ballard FC. With Lane United no longer in the league, Friday’s opponents are now the two oldest clubs in the NW Division. Read the 2026 NW Division Preview.
FC Olympia have had an up and down four years in the league. In 2023 when Ballard FC won the National Championship, FC Olympia were the only team to beat Ballard FC and joined them in the playoffs. However last year, Olympia finished in the bottom half of the division standings.
After losing their season opener 3-0 to the Portland Bangers, FC Olympia will be eager to get their first points of 2026. Not only will Friday’s match be FC Olympia’s first road test of the season, it will also be their first trip to Interbay Stadium since their 2023 playoff defeat the hands of Ballard FC. Last year the two teams faced off only once in what was a 3-0 road win for Ballard FC. A year earlier in 2024, Ballard FC played their home matches at Memorial Stadium as Interbay Stadium was undergoing renovations.
FC Olympia are headlined by Michael Divano who returns for the club this year after a great college season with Western Oregon University where he received Second team All-GNAC honors and won GNAC Tournament MVP after scoring the winning goal in the Conference Championship. His efforts in the fall earned him a transfer to Gonzaga University as he will make the jump to Division One soccer in the fall. The Ballard FC backline will look to keep Divano and the rest of the Olympia attack from scoring their first goals of the season.
Ballard FC has a 8-1-2 (W-L-T) all-time record against FC Olympia and will be looking to make it six wins in a row against Olympia on Friday night.
Get tickets to Friday’s match!
MATCH DETAILS
This is the first Ballard FC home match of the season. Fans should read this year’s “Know Before You Go” matchday guidelines and all of the below information to learn everything you need to know ahead of Friday’s match.
Gates: Gates open at 5:30pm! We’re opening the gates two hours before kickoff (instead of the normal 90 minutes) so that fans can watch the Salmon Bay FC season opener from the TV in the Beer Garden as they take on FC Olympia on the road. We recommend arriving early to enjoy the food and beer offerings, watch the players warm up, beat the hassle of traffic and parking, and to enjoy all of the prematch festivities. There will be a happy hour on Friday with all drinks half off from 5:30-6:30!
Food Vendors: Beyond the thrilling soccer action, Friday’s match will feature an array of food vendors, including Eva’s Wild, Kottu, Kathmandu MoMoCha, and Mainstay Provisions. Also, before you head to Pagliacci Pitch, you can take advantage of the Pagliacci Pizza BOGO slice deal on game days. Just show your ticket at any Pagliacci location and get two slices for the price of one. Outside food is not allowed in the venue except for Pagliacci Pizza. Fans can also purchase snacks, non-alcoholic drinks, and hot dogs (including the famous “Ballard Dog”) from the concession stand.
Ballard Food Bank: We also encourage fans to support the community by bringing donations of canned meat/fish (tuna, chicken, salmon) for the Ballard Food Bank.
Beer Garden: The Bridges United Foundation Beer Garden is back and better than ever this season. The Beer Garden proudly serves Stoup Brewing. In addition to beer from Stoup, fans can purchase tequila from Orgullo Ajeno Tequila, cider from Incline Cider, N/A beer from Athletic Brewing, and wine from Vino FC. The Beer Garden is all ages, however there is a 21+ zone in the southeast corner of the stadium, which includes the new bleachers that were installed during phase one of the Interbay Stadium Expansion, which was completed earlier this month. Although alcohol can only be purchase inside the Beer Garden, fans can now take beer, wine, and cider outside of the Beer Garden and back to their seats or standing room area. Check out the Beverage Map below.
Transportation: Parking is extremely limited and will not be available in the parking lot by the time gates open. Street parking can be found to the north, east, or west of the stadium. We highly recommend alternative forms of transportation, including biking as we will have the Wombi Bike Parking area available at every home match this year. Please also consider riding King County Metro on game day, where youth through age 18 always ride free! Check out transit mode in Google Maps, the TripPlanner.kingcounty.gov website, or an app like OneBusAway.
Pint. Pedal. Pitch: This year, Wombi and Stoup Brewing are partnering to provide a bike route for fans to head to the matches together. Fans can meet at Stoup Brewing and then bike together to Interbay Stadium ahead of kickoff. Sign up to ride to the match with your fellow Ballard FC fans.
Live Stream: Can’t make it to the match? All Ballard FC home matches will be streamed live and can be found on the Ballard FC homepage.
Written by Max Dresbach
