The Tacoma Stars took an early 4-0 lead against the the San Diego Sockers but couldn’t hold on and dropped an 8-7 Major Arena Soccer League match in front of 4,179 fans at the accesso ShoWare Center on Sunday, Fan Appreciation Night.<\/p>\n
The Kent-based Stars fall to 10-11 on the season. The Pacific Division-leading Sockers are 20-1.<\/p>\n
The Stars came out firing to take a three-goal lead in the first quarter, beginning with Philip Lund converting on a Nick Perera assist with 10:16 left in the period. Vince McCluskey picked up an unassisted marker with 6:44 remaining, and it was Perera’s turn to knock one in after that. Joey Gjertsen found Perera for the score with 2:16 to go in the first. It was Gjertsen’s final regular-season home game for the Stars. He will retire following the season.<\/p>\n
Tacoma went up 4-0 on Raphael Cox’s power-play goal with 10:50 left in the opening half.<\/p>\n
San Diego got on the board when Christian Gutierrez found Kraig Chiles for a goal with 8:36 on the clock. Luis Ortega and Brandon Escoto scored for the Sockers 16 seconds apart, and the Stars lead was just one with 1:04 left in the second quarter. San Diego tied the match with six seconds remaining.<\/p>\n
There were only two goals scored in the third quarter – both by San Diego’s Leonardo De Oliveira to give the Sockers a 6-4 lead going into the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
Ramos opened the period scoring on a Perera assist with 9:24 remaining.<\/p>\n
Landon Donovan found his way on the scoresheet for San Diego with an unassisted goal less than a minute later.<\/p>\n
It was Ramos again, this time from Peterson, for Tacoma to make it 7-6 San Diego with 6:08 to play.<\/p>\n
A power play goal from Chiles gave San Diego a two-goal cushion with 3:16 left to go.<\/p>\n
The final goal of the game cam from Perera for Tacoma with 47.9 seconds showing, but the Stars could not get another to tie up the game.<\/p>\n
The Stars finish the regular season on the road. Tacoma is in Dallas on Saturday for a 5 p.m. match and visits Monterrey, Calif., on Sunday for a 4:05 p.m. game. Both matches are on MASL.tv<\/a>.<\/p>\n