OUR MOMENTS 2015 will look back at the year and highlight some of the biggest moments for soccer in the state of Washington, starting from January and going until we reach the end of the year. First up is big news from January 2015 when the Tacoma Stars bought out the MASL rights to the Seattle Impact and then made their return to pro indoor soccer at the Kent Showare Center against the San Diego Sockers. See articles below! Coming Next: Winning the WISL.

-From January 15, 2015-

TACOMA, WASH.—The Tacoma Stars are headed back to the professional indoor soccer ranks. Effective immediately, the Tacoma Stars will replace the Seattle Impact in the Major Arena Soccer League. Lane Smith, owner for the Tacoma Stars, purchased the rights to the team this week.

The MASL Stars will make their debut Friday January 16 at 7:30 PM at the SMG-managed ShoWare Center in Kent against the indoor powerhouse San Diego Sockers. Tickets to Friday’s Stars-Sockers match are available online athttp://www.ShoWareCenter.com. Many tickets are half price and the Stars invite fans to celebrate the sport of indoor soccer buy allowing kids 12 and under in free on Friday with a purchase of an equal number of adult tickets (redeem at box office.) All prior tickets purchased for the Seattle Impact will be honored fro the remaining schedule.

“We are proud to welcome Lane Smith and the Tacoma Stars back to the MASL and support his efforts to grow out sport in the Northwest,” said MASL Commissioner Kevin Milliken.

The Stars have been, and will continue to, compete in the Western Indoor Soccer League, a highly competitive regional amateur league, where they are 5-0-0 in league play and 8-0-0 in all competitions while also competing in the remaining games for the MASL season.

The staff and team for the Stars will stay intact and the players will be moving with the organization to the next level. With a short lead time before the Friday match the Stars will be looking to revive an old mainstay rivalry with the Sockers that dates back to the 1980s.

“We want to do the right thing for the soccer community and our Tacoma Stars team has been growing with each week so this decision made sense,” said Smith. “We are very excited to partner with the ShoWare Center and work to build the Stars brand in the years to come. I remember watching the Stars in the past and we are seeing that level of excitement return to our loyal fan base.”

The Stars are led by former Seattle Sounder Darren Sawatzky and general manager John Crouch,

“I look forward to the challenge of continuing to develop all of these players. We look forward to the challenge of stepping up and competing in the MASL, and still meet our original goal of winning the WISL championship,” said Sawatzky.

“We are excited to be working with the Tacoma Stars ownership during this transition,” said ShoWare Center’s General Manager, Tim Higgins. “We look forward to seeing the continued growth of professional indoor soccer in Kent for many years to come.”

The original Tacoma Stars were founded by the late John Best and made their debut in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) back in 1983 at the Tacoma Dome. The MISL era for the Stars lasted nine seasons until 1992. In 2004 a group of local players took the name “Tacoma Stars” and formed a team in the Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL), eventually moving up and playing three seasons in the Professional Arena Soccer League. In the summer of 2014 Lane Smith bought the rights to the name “Tacoma Stars,” and the Stars revived by helping found the Western Indoor Soccer League (WISL). The Stars still have three matches and playoffs to complete their WISL season. The WISL Stars play at the traditional training home of the professional Tacoma Stars, the Tacoma Soccer Center.

-From January 16, 2015-

by Atif Bhatti

KENT, Wash.—Despite the diligence of the Tacoma Stars organization over the last 48 hours to prepare for the team’s jump into the MASL, the San Diego Sockers are still leaving the Pacific Northwest victorious by a score of 8-3. The two Pacific Division teams battled it out in Kent’s ShoWare Center on Friday night, and the division-leading Sockers came out on top before 885 fans.

San Diego firmly stayed in control of the game in the opening quarter, as the Sockers outscored the Stars 3-1 through the first fifteen minutes of play. Anthony Medina tallied a goal while Kraig Chiles scored a brace, extending his streak of having at least one point per game to 57 games. Tacoma’s lone goal was assisted by Mark Lee and scored by Derek Johnson. Despite the Stars’ plethora of chances, especially on the counterattack, the Sockers stood strong and ended the first quarter with a two goal advantage.

Both teams’ defenses were very stingy in the second quarter of play, as only one goal was scored between the two sides. After just about five minutes of play into the second quarter, Derek Johnson scored what may have been the goal of the night, as the ball was blasted and it hit the bottom of the crossbar to finally go into the net. The Stars were also without Derek Johnson for five minutes of the quarter due to a yellow card that he received. But Tacoma was still able to keep San Diego scoreless throughout the second quarter and the Stars found themselves down by only one goal at the halftime break.

The Sockers were able to get back on the board in the third quarter of play, as the away side added a pair of goals to their night and kept the Stars scoreless in this quarter. Dan Antoniuk made his presence felt with a goal early in the quarter while Kraig Chiles was able to complete his hat trick halfway through the third quarter. San Diego ended the third quarter with a lead of 5-2 over Tacoma, seeming to be in the driver’s seat to win the match.

The closing quarter of the game was chippy to say the least, as four blue cards were dished out by the officials. Only one blue card foul was converted into a power play goal, as San Diego’s Jeff Hughes scored early in the fourth quarter. Tacoma’s lone goal of the quarter came from Duncan McCormick, but the Sockers had cemented the victory in the closing couple minutes when Kraig Chiles scored his fourth goal of the game and his 31st of the season.

The Stars, now 0-1 in MASL play (3-11 including the record of the former Seattle Impact FC) won’t be playing another MASL game until Sunday, January 25th inside the ShoWare Center against the Las Vegas Legends. However, Tacoma still has their WISL obligations to fulfill, as the first-place Stars’ next game is in just a matter of hours up in Arlington against the last-place Aviators.

Following the Tacoma Stars: Fans can stay up to date on the latest activities and announcements for the Stars by following on Twitter (@TacomaStarsSC), Facebook (www.facebook.com/tacomastars) or online at www.tacomastars.com.

-From January 17, 2015-

You only debut once, and the Tacoma Stars knew who to call on for photos of their Major Arena Soccer League bow: Wilson Tsoi. The Stars made history last Friday night with a return to the professional level and Wilson was there to capture the moments. See some of his shots below and the entire gallery at Facebook.com/TacomaStars!