# Tacoma Stars

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.
The club also fields an indoor women's side under the Tacoma Galaxy name. The club fields two reserve teams both with the name Tacoma Stars Reserves, in the indoor WISL junior league, and the outdoor youth Cascadia Premier League.
| Men's Indoor MASL | Men's Outdoor USL2 | Women's Outdoor USL-W |

## 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).
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.
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. On January 10, 2014, the Pacific Sports Center was placed into receivership, putting the future of the facility and the franchise in question.
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.
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. 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.
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. 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.
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. An affiliated women's team, named the Tacoma Galaxy, will play in the USL W League beginning in 2024.
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 | 4–0–0 | 56 | 26 | 1st, Northwest | Won Championship | |
| 2004–05 | PASL | 6–2–0 | 64 | 34 | 2nd, Northwest | Eliminated in National Round Robin | 138 |
| 2005–06 | PASL | 3–4–0 | 32 | 36 | 4th, Northwest | Suspended | |
| 2006–07 | PASL | 10–1–0 | 101 | 40 | 1st, Northwest | Lost National Elimination | |
| 2007–08 | PASL | 5–5–2 | 187 | 149 | 4th, Northwest | Lost Division Final | |
| 2008–09 | PASL-Premier | 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 | |
| 2014–15$^1$ | MASL | 4–16 | 120 | 215 | 5th, Pacific | Did not qualify | 1,038 |
| 2015–16$^2$ | 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).

## Personnel
### Active players

As of 2024.
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 Soccer Center | Tacoma | Indoor | Tacoma Stars Reserves | WISL |
| Tacoma Soccer Center | Tacoma | Indoor | 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- |
| Bellarmine Preparatory School | Tacoma | Outdoor | Tacoma Galaxy | USL-W | 2024- |
| Curtis Senior High School | University Place | Outdoor | Tacoma Stars Reserves | CPL |
* ^ As Tacoma Galaxy
* ^ Starfire has both indoor and outdoor facilities.
* ^ ShoWare is primarily a hockey arena.