Stars defense shines in 5-3 win over Turlock

For the Reporter

The Tacoma Stars went into Turlock, Calif., looking for the season sweep of the Express and completed it with a 5-3 win at the Indoor Soccer Center on Friday.

The Stars (9-11) got goals from five players in a match in which they were outshot 12-8.

Troy Peterson opened scoring with 7:01 left in the first quarter with an unassisted goal to put Tacoma on top 1-0. Derek Johnson doubled the Stars lead to 2-0 with 13:28 remaining in the second.

Adrian Plascencia cut the lead in half on his first of two goals in the game with 10:47 on the clock in the first half for the Express (2-18).

Stars leading scorer Nick Perera netted his 21st goal of the season to put Tacoma up 3-1 at the break.

Plascencia scored his second of the match with 6:30 remaining in the third only to have Trevor Jensen find the scoresheet just 32 seconds later, and it was 4-2 Tacoma heading into the final quarter.

Jamael Cox wasted no time scoring in the fourth when he put the Stars on top 5-2 only 35 seconds into the quarter. Tacoma’s defense held Turlock to two shots in the final quarter, but one of them was the Express’ leading scorer Ivan Campos’ 23rd goal of the year to reach the 5-3 final.

Tacoma begins its final regular season homestand of the season Friday, Feb. 23 against Ontario at 7:35 p.m. Fans in attendance for the game will receive a 2017-28 Stars team photo.

Tacoma trails Ontario by just one game for the second Pacific Division playoff spot with just two games left to play.

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

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