NICK PERERA BECOMES MASL ALL-TIME ASSIST LEADER IN STARS 4-3 LOSS AT EMPIRE
ONTARIO, CA. – The Tacoma Stars (1-3-1) finished off a rough weekend with a 4-3 loss to the Empire Strykers (3-3-0) at Toyota Arena Sunday night. For Tacoma, it was their fourth loss in a row following their opening-night win over San Diego. It was a battle throughout, but a fourth-quarter penalty kick by Marco Fabián to complete his hat trick sealed the win for Empire.
The bright spot in the game for Tacoma was Nick Perera’s 226th career assist which pushed him past Leo Gibson into the number one spot on the leaderboard. It came in the 3rd quarter on a goal which tied the game at 3-3 at the time.
Tacoma’s Fellipe Souza started the scoring early in the 1st quarter from just inside the yellow line, sending a rocket off his right foot inside the far post past Empire starting keeper Brian Orozco to put Tacoma up 1-0 with 11:09 to go in the frame.
Fabián began a string of three consecutive Stryker goals and leveled the game at 1-1 with a one-timer from the yellow line on a restart assist from Andy Reyes. The teams went scoreless the rest of the way through the 1st quarter and headed to the 2nd even on the scoreboard at a goal apiece.
Jorge DeLeon and Fabián’s second of the game were all the goals scored in the 2nd quarter and the teams went to the break with the Strykers holding a 3-1 lead.
Perera went to work in the third quarter and converted a Mike Ramos assist into a goal, cutting Empire’s lead to 3-2 with 7:57 to go in the quarter. It was Perera's seventh goal of the season, but the next Stars goal was the big one for him.
Sitting on 225 assists, he sent a pass to Nani Mendoza for the goal that leveled the game at 3-3 with 5:47 on the clock. That assist marked Perera as the all-time leader.
The game went back and forth defensively until Logan Jones was issued a blue card for handling with 8:33 to go in regulation. That penalty set up a penalty kick for Fabián, and he beat Stars keeper Chris Toth to put the Strykers up for good at 4-3.
The Stars now return home to face the San Diego Sockers in their second trip to the accesso ShoWare Center early in the season on Friday, January 10, 2025, at 7:05 pm. Tickets are available at www.tacomastars.showare.com today! Using the code NEWYEAR at checkout will save you 24% on reserved, club, and premier seats through January 25 to ring in 2025.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st – TAC Souza 2 3:51; EMP Fabián 7 (Reyes) 5:48. Penalties – None.
2nd – EMP DeLeon 2 (Gueye) 0:13; EMP Fabián 8 (Palmer) 6:57. Penalties – TAC (bc- too many men) 10:41.
3rd – TAC Perera 7 (Ramos) 7:03; TAC Mendoza 1 (Perera) 9:13. Penalties – TAC Braem (yc- dissent) 1:43.
4th – EMP Fabián 9 6:27 pk. Penalties – TAC Jones (bc- handling) 6:27.
Power Play – Stars 0/0, Empire 0/2
Shots – Stars 30, Empire 26
Fouls – Stars 8, Empire 9
Penalty Minutes – Stars 7, Empire 0
Attendance – 1,000
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