VANCOUVER, WA— Jesse De Leon brought his scoring boots to Olympia last weekend. In a record offensive outburst he scored six goals as his club Vancouver Victory bounced the homestanding Oly Town Artesians 13-6 at the Evergreen Pavilion in a Western Indoor Soccer League (WISL) contest.
De Leon was just named Offensive Player of the Week by the WISL.
Jesse’s six pack was scored in a unique venue. “We just took advantage of the field, how wide it was, so they pushed my out wide to just take shots all game when I was in,” De Leon tells goalWA.net. “The goals wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the team playing amazing balls over the top and giving perfect crosses to my feet so it would be easier for me to finish them. I would say that was one of our better games and the ball movement helped create a lot of space for me to take shots on target and that’s what I did and it worked out well.”
Jesse scored Vancouver’s first three goals and then added a second hat trick in the second half. His six goal match edges out Derek Johnson’s (Tacoma Stars) 5 goal match from last season as the single match WISL scoring record.
De Leon has kept in touch with indoor soccer even as he’s building his outdoor career. “I always played indoor off and on. I first started playing with my club team (Westside Metros) when I was 12 and after club ended at U18, then I started to join local men’s leagues with friends just for fun. Indoor is always fun to play.”
Jesse De Leon outdoors with V2FC. (The Columbian photo)
De Leon played at Westview High School in Beaverton, Oregon, before going to Clark College in the NWAC. When the Vancouver Victory formed in the Evergreen Premier League in 2014 he was on the pitch for the club’s first match. Now the Victory are bringing their first season of indoor play in the WISL to a close. It’s been a tough go but De Leon has given the club something to build on.
Jesse De Leon is now the record-holder for most goals in a single match (6) in the Western Indoor Soccer League.
“It felt great to score that many goals for the team especially because it was our first win and it was an away game,” says Jesse. An earlier V2FC win was removed by the WISL after Vancouver mistakenly played an unregistered player. This one counts, and now the Victory are hoping to end the season next week at home against Sporting Everett with a repeat performance. “13 goals is great, but we hope to score more than that this Saturday. I like to set myself some goals to reach, keeps me hungry for more,” De Leon says.
Jesse is already thinking about summer, and turning out in for V2FC in the EPLWA. He’s just getting back after an injury. “I have been training on my own and with some friends to run with to get me back in shape and to push me harder. I hope to play with them (V2FC) over the summer, it would be a great way to keep playing competitively and to keep playing with a great group of guys.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oNyQ4wzPuM
