SOCKERS MAKE ONLY VISIT TO ACCESSO SHOWARE CENTER ON SATURDAY

TACOMA, WA. – The Stars (5-5-0) welcome what may be their toughest opponent to the accesso ShoWare Center on Saturday in the back-to-back Champion San Diego Sockers (10-1-0), who saw their 30-game win streak snapped in a 10-4 loss to the Empire Strykers on Wednesday night in Ontario, CA.

For their part, the Sockers did not resemble the usual team that breezes through their schedule going up against a Strykers team that kept San Diego on the ropes from start to finish. With the loss, the Sockers come in to Saturday’s game still having given up more than four goals just twice this season, both to the Strykers. With the 100% healthy team San Diego reports on the Injury Report, they will be expected to come out to make a statement Saturday against the Stars showing that their drubbing at the hands of their So Cal opponent was but a tiny blip in a mission for a three-peat.

Tacoma’s last game raised their season win percentage back to .500 thanks to a 6-4 win over the visiting Monterrey Flash despite not having Stars’ leading-scorer Nick Perera who was unavailable due to GM obligations with the NWSL’s OL Reign. Looking at his club’s performance, he wants to build on that win heading into what should be a huge test as the Stars begin to fight for a playoff spot in a very tough Western Conference.

“Saturday is another chance to be in front of our fans, and to keep improving after an important home win last week,” said Perera.

After Saturday’s game, the Stars will have two more home games in front of their fans in February before embarking on a stretch of five consecutive road games with stops in Florida, Dallas, Mesquite, Chihuahua, and Monterrey. Over the next seven games, Tacoma will face off with just one opponent with a losing record.

It will be a tough task for the Stars to keep pace in the West as they currently sit five points behind Monterrey for the 5th and final post-season spot, though Tacoma has three games in hand. The next three home games will either show the Stars as a playoff contender or put them in a hole that may be very difficult to climb out of.

One thing is for sure, Tacoma will come out ready to face that task on Saturday. The Stars have a history of rising to the occasion against tough opponents.

Before the Stars and Sockers get underway at 7 pm, the Tacoma Stars Reserves will square off against Snohomish County FC at 4 pm. One ticket will get you into both games at the accesso ShoWare Center. The Reserves sit atop the WISL with a record of 8-0-1.

Tickets for Saturday and all Tacoma Stars games are available at www.tacomastars.com/tickets.