December 20, 2024 – Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
Tacoma Stars News Release
ONTARIO, CA. – The Tacoma Stars (1-1-1) went into Toyota Arena riding a six-game winning streak over the Empire Strykers (1-2-0) and saw it snapped as they were outscored 7-1 in the second half and fell by a 10-5 final.
The Strykers looked to control the game early and jumped to a 3-1 lead over Tacoma just 28 seconds into the 2nd quarter before Tacoma railed off three consecutive markers to have a 4-3 advantage at the break.
Mounir Alami opened the scoring in the game early thanks to an assist by Justin Stinson and it was 1-0 Empire with 13:45 on the clock in the opening frame.
Less than 30 seconds later, Tacoma’s Logan Jones slid a low pass to Fellipe Souza for a tap-in at the far post to level the game 1-1 with 13:19 on the clock in the 1st.
The next goal took a bit longer, but it was Andy Reyes’ first goal since his return to Empire and it gave his squad a 2-1 lead after 15 minutes of play.
Brandon Gomez replaced Claysson De Lima in goal for the Strykers and scored his first career goal 28 seconds into the 2nd quarter and the home team took a 3-1 lead over Tacoma.
Penalties then rained down on Empire. First, Gomez was sent to the box for seven minutes after being shown a blue for tripping and yellow for delay of game after receiving a time penalty.
Empire was able to kill the Stars power play but just after it expired, Robert Palmer was sent off for denying a goal scoring chance which set Nick Perera up with a shootout opportunity for Tacoma. He converted for his fourth goal of the season.
16 seconds after Perera’s goal, Stars keeper Chris Toth sent a long outlet pass to Jamael Cox who one-timed a shot off a bounce just inside the yellow line to tie the game up at 3-3 with 5:54 left in the half.
The Stars took the lead when Moises Gonzalez sent a pass from the left corner to Matt Braem just outside the yellow line. Braem ripped a top-shelf goal to give Tacoma a 4-3 lead at the break.
The second half proved to be nothing less than 30 minutes of dominance by Empire after they scored the lone goal of the 3rd quarter on a shootout by Marco Fabián to tie the game at 4-4 heading into the final frame.
Empire outscored the Stars 6-1 in the final 15 minutes as six different Strykers players scored in the 4th quarter to help them cruise to their first win of the season.
The Stars will play against the San Diego Sockers tomorrow to close out the 2024 portion of their schedule. They return home…