January 5, 2024 – Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) – Tacoma Stars News Release
TACOMA, WA. – The Tacoma Stars (2-3-0) will face the Utica City FC (6-1-0) for the first time on the field at the accesso ShoWare Center tomorrow night. Before the upcoming contest, the unfamiliar foes have only met one other time, a 9-4 Utica win at Adirondack Bank Center on April 2, 2022.
The game comes on the heels of milestones for two of the players competing on Saturday. Franck Tayou, the all-time leading scorer in the MASL reached the 500-point mark during the first quarter on Thursday in Utica’s loss in Milwaukee.
For Tacoma, Chris Toth became the league’s all-time saves leader with his fourth save of the game last Sunday in San Diego. It was the 1,934 save of his career before going on to stop six more shots in the game.
Utica saw their six-game win streak to open the season stopped in Milwaukee before making the trip to the West Coast to face the Stars. For UCFC, it was their first game facing an opponent other than the Harrisburg Heat or Baltimore Blast.
The Stars have been in a similar situation, as three of their first five games have come against the Western Conference-leading San Diego Sockers with all three ending in defeats. The two other games, against Empire and Baltimore, have turned up wins for Tacoma.
Aside from Tayou, who is third on the team in scoring with 13 points (6G-7A), Utica brings four other players with double-digit offensive production to the game. Ronaldinho Diniz leads the squad with 14 points (11G-3A). Keaton Woods, Mohamed Ndiaye, and Nilton Andrade round out the team’s best producers.
Defensively, the visitors will be without netminder Andrew Coughlin (6-0-0) who is listed as out on the availability report with an illness. Brian Wilkin (0-1-0) started in his place on Thursday in Milwaukee.
Toth (2-2-0) is expected to get the start in goal for Tacoma as he has for all five of the Stars games this season.
On the other side of the ball, the Stars are led by reigning MASL MVP Nick Perera’s 15 points (5G-10A). His 10 assists tops the league in that category, as does his 3.0 points-per-game-average. Alessandro Canale leads the team in goals with seven and is second in scoring with nine points.
Doors open at 6 pm tomorrow for a kick-off at 7:05 pm and for tickets head to www.tacomastars.showare.com today!
Select suites are still available for some games. Enjoy a Stars game with your family and friends in your own private suite! For more information…