STARS CRUSH RIO GRANDE VALLEY 11-2 TO OPEN ROAD TRIP

Hidalgo, TX – The Tacoma Stars (7-7) headed south for a Southwest Division road trip Saturday night and could not have scripted a better start, blowing out the Rio Grande Valley Barracudas (2-12) 11-2 in front of 1,184 fans at State Farm Arena.  

The first quarter gave no indication of the score to come as the first 15 minutes passed scoreless. That would change just 36 seconds into the second quarter when Nick Perera netted the first of his three goals to open scoring. He would get one more in the second and Ramone Palmer would add one to go along with a pair of markers from Raphael Cox to put the Stars up 5-0 at the intermission.

Perera completed his hat trick to open the second half before Taylor Walter Bond scored his first goal as a Star with 7:11 left in the third. Derek Johnson and Troy Peterson scored just 14 seconds apart to lift Tacoma in from 9-0 heading into the 4th quarter.

Chase Hanson redirected a clearing attempt by Barracudas goalkeeper Arnaldo Pruneda to make it 10-0 Tacoma with 9:10 left. Rio Grande Valley stopped Stars keeper Danny Waltman’s shut-out bid with 6:48 on Miguel Rocha’s first of two goals. Palmer completed scoring for the Stars with his second goal with just 1:31 remaining. Rocha picked up his second of the night just 20 seconds later to get to the 11-2 final.

Tacoma continues their road trip tomorrow when they head to Monterrey to face the MASL’s only unbeaten team, the Flash (12-0) at 3:05 pm PST.

Tacoma returns home Friday February 2 to host the El Paso Coyotes at 7:35 pm.

For tickets call 1-800-STARS-84 or go to www.tacomastars.com

Tacoma Stars games are streamed live on www.masl.tv with live stats available at www.maslsoccer.com.

Stay up to date with the Stars by following them on Twitter (@TacomaStarsSC) or liking the team on Facebook (FB.com/TacomaStars).