Tacoma Stars

This article is about the Tacoma Stars that play in the Major Arena Soccer League. For the original team, see Tacoma Stars (1983–1992).

The Tacoma Stars are an American professional indoor soccer team based in Tacoma, Washington, that competes in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL). The franchise also operates in USL League Two, a minor outdoor league. Founded in 2003, the indoor team plays its home games at ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington. First playing in 2024, the outdoor men's team and outdoor women's team, the Tacoma Galaxy, play home games at Bellarmine Preparatory School in Tacoma.

Tacoma Stars

Founded	2003; 22 years ago (2003)
Stadium	accesso ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington Bellarmine Preparatory School, Tacoma, Washington
Capacity	6,500
Chairman	Lane Smith
Coach	Adam Becker
League	Major Arena Soccer League USL League Two
2022–23	4th, Western Division Playoffs: Play-in Round
Website	http://www.tacomastars.com
Home colors Away colors

The club also fields an indoor women's side under the Tacoma Galaxy name.^[1] The club fields two reserve teams both with the name Tacoma Stars Reserves, in the indoor WISL junior league,^[2] and the outdoor youth Cascadia Premier League.^[3]

History

The Stars were founded in 2003 as a member of the Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL-Premier). The team is named after the Tacoma Stars that played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League from 1983 to 1992. The Stars won two PASL-Premier Championships (Summer 2004 & Winter 2009-2010).^[4]

The Stars made the transition to professional status and joined the Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL) for the 2010-11 season. In 2012–13 season, the head coach was Joe Waters as the team moved into the new Pacific Sports Center.^[5]

The Stars went on hiatus on August 23, 2013. An amateur version of the club participated in the Premier Arena Soccer League as the Tacoma Galaxy in the 2013-14 season.^[6] On January 10, 2014, the Pacific Sports Center was placed into receivership, putting the future of the facility and the franchise in question.^[7]

In June 2014, it was announced that the Tacoma Stars would return to play in the Western Indoor Soccer League (WISL) at the Tacoma Soccer Center.

In January 2015, team owner Lane Smith acquired the assets of the failed Seattle Impact of the Major Arena Soccer League and announced that the Stars would complete the Impact's 2014–15 season at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington, while completing their WISL obligations.^{[8][9][10][11]}

The Stars joined the National Premier Soccer League in 2020, and planned to field an outdoor team in the Northwest Conference through a partnership with Washington Premier FC. The outdoor team planned to play at Washington Premier FC Field in Waller, Washington, near Puyallup.^[12] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic NPSL halted play in the 2020 season, and the Northwest division did not play in 2021. Tacoma left NPSL in 2022 without having played a match.^{[citation needed]}

In 2023, the Tacoma Stars won the North American Sand Soccer U.S. Men's Open Division Championship in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with a 3-2 victory over Maryzillians in the final.^[13] The team, which went 6-0 in the tournament, included Nick Perera, Cory Keitz, and Fellipe Souza, along with former players Chris Toth, Alessandro Canale, and Mike Palmerin. Perera was named the Tournament MVP, and Toth received the Top Goalkeeper award.^[14]

On January 4, 2024, the Tacoma Stars was announced as an expansion team for the outdoor USL League Two, joining the Northwest Division. The team will play their home matches at Bellarmine Preparatory School in Tacoma.^[15] An affiliated women's team, named the Tacoma Galaxy, will play in the USL W League beginning in 2024.^[16]

Men's pro indoor leaders (Regular and Post)

Appearances	Raphael Cox - 112	Danny Waltman - 109	Chase Hanson - 104
Points	Nick Perera - 177	Mike Ramos - 146	Raphael Cox - 86
Goals	Nick Perera - 94	Mike Ramos - 91	Raphael Cox - 61
Assists	Nick Perera - 84	Mike Ramos - 55	Raphael Cox - 34
Saves	Danny Waltman - 2175	Piotr Silwa - 190	Chris Kintz - 175
Fouls	Vince Mcluskey - 154	Nick Perera - 119	Mike Ramos - 99

Year-by-year

League Champions

Runners-up

Division champions

Playoff berth

Year	League	Record	GF	GA	Finish	Playoffs	Avg. attendance	U.S. Open Cup
2003	PASL
2004	PASL[17][18]	4–0–0	56	26	1st, Northwest	Won Championship
2004–05	PASL[19][20][21]	6–2–0	64	34	2nd, Northwest	Eliminated in National Round Robin	138[22]
2005–06	PASL[23][24]	3–4–0	32	36	4th, Northwest	Suspended
2006–07	PASL[25][26]	10–1–0	101	40	1st, Northwest	Lost National Elimination
2007–08	PASL[27][28]	5–5–2	187	149	4th, Northwest	Lost Division Final
2008–09	PASL-Premier[29][30]	7–0–1	56	31	1st, Northwest	Lost National Semifinal		Lost semifinal
2009–10	PASL-Premier	6–1–1	50	25	1st, Northwest	Won Championship		Lost Round of 16
2010–11	PASL-Pro	10–6	110	104	2nd, Western	Lost quarterfinal	331	Lost semifinal
2011–12	PASL	3–13	92	150	5th, Western	Did not qualify	242	Lost quarterfinal
2012–13	PASL	8–7	116	136	3rd, Pacific	Did not qualify	314	Lost quarterfinal
2013–14	PASL-Premier	6–0–2	55	33	1st, Northwest	Eliminated in National Group Play
2014–15	WISL	8–0–0	67	25	1st, WISL	Won Championship
2014–151	MASL	4–16	120	215	5th, Pacific	Did not qualify	1,038
2015–162	MASL	13–7	116	109	3rd, Pacific	Lost Division Semifinals	2,475
2016–17	MASL	10–10	114	120	3rd, Pacific	Did not qualify	2,894
2017–18	MASL	11–11	134	134	2nd, Pacific	Lost Division Finals	2,635
2018–19	MASL	12–12	162	143	2nd, Pacific	Lost Division Finals	2,672
2019–20	MASL	8–12	112	124	5th, Western	Did not qualify	2,519
2021	MASL	4–7	53	62	6th, MASL	Lost quarterfinals	NHG*
2021-22	MASL	6-18	135	192	4th, West	Did Not Quality	1,200
2022-23	MASL	12-12	155	139	4th, West	Lost Western Conference play-in	1,175

¹ Completing last 7 games of 20-game season after taking over for the Seattle Impact.

² First full season competing in MASL.

* The Stars had no home games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Professional playoffs

Year	Won	Lost	GF	GA	Avg. attendance
2011	0	1	6	9	NHG
2016	0	2	10	19	2,036
2018	1	2	10	17	2,386
2019	0	2	9	13	2,412
2021	0	2	10	12	NHG*
2023	0	1	6	9	TBA

* The Stars had no home games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tournament victories

U.S. Men's Open - North American Sand Soccer Championship (NASSC) (2023).^[31]

Personnel

Active players

As of 2024.^[32]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 0 GK  USA Luis Birrueta 2 DF  USA Chase Hanson 3 DF  USA Cory Keitz 4 FW  USA Logan Jones 5 MF  USA Kyle Rivers 7 DF  USA Alex Caceres 8 MF  DEN Philip Lund 9 FW  GUM Eddie Na 10 FW  USA Nick Perera 11 MF  USA Jamael Cox 13 DF  USA Tyler John 17 FW  USA Gilbert de la Luz 20 DF  USA Evan McNeley

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 MF  USA Willie Spurr 22 MF  USA Nani Mendoza 23 MF  USA Raphael Cox 25 MF  USA Mike Ramos 29 DF  PAN Roman Torres 31 GK  USA Chris Toth 33 MF  USA Adrian Correa 41 GK  USA Michael Herrera 55 DF  FRA Matt Braem 77 FW  USA Alex Megson 89 MF  USA Alessandro Canale 99 MF  USA Sebastian Navarro

Venues

Venue	City	Type	Team	League	Years
Tacoma Soccer Center	Tacoma	Indoor	Tacoma Stars	PASL-Premier, PASL	2004-2011, 2013-2014, 2014-2015
			Tacoma Stars Reserves	WISL
			Tacoma Galaxy	NWPLi
Starfire Sports Complex	Tukwila	Indoor	Tacoma Stars	PASL	2011-2012
Pacific Sports Center	Tacoma	Indoor	Tacoma Stars	PASL	2012-2013
accesso ShoWare Center	Kent	Indoor	Tacoma Stars	MASL	2015-
Bellarmine Preparatory School	Tacoma	Outdoor	Tacoma Stars	USL2	2024-
			Tacoma Galaxy	USL-W	2024-
Curtis Senior High School	University Place	Outdoor	Tacoma Stars Reserves	CPL

1. ^ As Tacoma Galaxy
2. ^ Starfire has both indoor and outdoor facilities.
3. ^ ShoWare is primarily a hockey arena.