The Tacoma Stars welcomed the Monterrey (Mexico) Flash to the accesso ShoWare Center for Latino Heritage Night and snapped the visitors’ win streak with a 7-6 victory in front of 2,144 fans Friday night.
With Monterrey’s loss there are no remaining unbeaten teams in the MASL this season.
The Flash (13-1) came out looking to continue their winning ways by picking up the first two goals of the match. Edgar Flores, who finished with five points on the night, scored followed by Hugo Puentes to give Monterrey a 2-0 lead after the first 15 minutes of play.
The Stars (5-7) tied the match with a pair of goals in the first two minutes of the second quarter from Vince McCluskey and Mike Ramos. The Monterrey offense rallied at that point as they strung together three unanswered goals, including two more from Flores and a marker from Jorge Rios, which Flores assisted to give the Flash a 5-2 advantage with 1:48 to go in the half. That was enough time for Nick Perera to find Raphael Cox for a Tacoma goal to send the teams to the locker room with a 5-3 Monterrey lead.
In the third frame, it was McCluskey and Megson who found the back of the net for Tacoma to level the match at 5-5 heading into the fourth quarter. There, the first goal came quickly as Ramos assisted on a Perera goal just 18 seconds into the fourth. Ramos knocked in a power play goal with 6:36 left to play giving the Stars a 7-5 lead. That set up an intense finish, and after back and forth play, Monterrey notched its final goal of the match, Puentes assisted by Flores, and that finished the scoring with the Stars cinching the 7-6 win.
The Stars welcome the Harrisburg (Pa.) Heat to the ShoWare Center on Friday, Jan. 31 for the first ever meeting between the clubs. Game time is 7:35 p.m.
Order tickets at tacomastars.showare.com.
SCORING SUMMARY
First quarter – MON Flores (Puentes) 7:07; MON Puentes (Garay) 14:30. Penalties – MON Aguilar yellow card (dissent) 11:08.
Second quarter – TAC McCluskey (Perera) 0:42; TAC Ramos 1:41; MON Flores 5:45; MON 8:48; MON Rios 13:12; TAC R. Cox (Perera) 13:43. Penalties – TAC Canale blue card (tripping) 13:12.
Third quarter – TAC McCluskey (Ramos) 3:12; TAC Megson 4:28. Penalties – MON Tovar blue card (tripping) 12:28.
Fourth quarter – TAC Perera (Ramos) 0:18; TAC Ramos (Caceres) 5:25 PP; MON Puentes (Flores) 12:28. Penalties – MON Garcia blue card (kicking) 3:46; TAC Peterson blue card (holding) 8:24; MON Aguilar yellow card (dissent) 8:43; MON Vaca blue card (holding) 13:31; MON Valdovinos yellow card (severe unsportsmanlike manner) 13:31.
Attendance – 2,144
