STARS DROP SUNDAY MATINEE IN MESQUITE 5-2
Mesquite, TX. – The Stars (7-9) sent a flurry of fourth quarter shots at the Mesquite Outlaws (5-11) but were unable to overcome a five-goal deficit and finished the match with a 5-2 loss on Sunday at the Mesquite Arena.
The lone goal of the first quarter began Mesquite’s run of five consecutive goals as Outlaws keeper Eduardo Cortes found VcMor Eligwe with an outlet pass to put Mesquite up 1-0 with 10:33 left in the first.
Mesquite tacked on three more in the second quarter beginning with Cody Ellis, who volleyed a Mike Jones pass to the right of Stars keeper Danny Waltman for a 2-0 lead with 12:31 to go in the first half. Josemaria Oteze converted on a Jamie Lovegrove assist to make it 3-0 with less than five minutes to go. The final goal of the first half was an end to end effort by the Outlaws Shaun David with 2:43 on the clock to give Mesquite a 4-0 advantage at the break.
Just before time expired in the third quarter, Lovegrove connected with Bradlee Baladez who slid the ball past Waltman to give Mesquite a 5-0 lead heading to the final quarter.
The Stars stopped Mesquite’s run when Alex Megson served Douglas Lima with an assist for Tacoma’s first goal with 8:34 left in the game. Adam West found a loose ball off a restart and buried it with his left foot into the back of the net with 4:51 to bring the Stars within three at 5-2. Tacoma applied pressure in the final quarter, outshooting Mesquite by an 18-3 margin but the Outlaws defense held, and they were able to snap their six game losing streak.
Mesquite and Tacoma will meet for a pair of games at the accesso ShoWare Center on March 19 and 22 to close out the regular season.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st – MES Eligwe (Cortes) 4:27. Penalties – none.
2nd – MES Ellis (Jones) 2:29; MES Oteze (Lovegrove) 10:22; MES David 12:17. Penalties – none.
3rd – MES Baladez (Lovegrove) 14:59. Penalties – none.
4th – TAC Lima (Megson) 6:26; TAC West 10:09. Penalties – TAC McCluskey blue card (dangerous play) 14:02.
Attendance – 1,169
The Stars return to the accesso ShoWare Center on Thursday February 27 when they welcome the Florida Tropics for the first of two games. Game time is 7:35 pm and you can get your tickets at tacomastars.showare.com today.
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