Lazers Get Out of Cellar With 3-2 Victory Over Tacoma

The Los Angeles Lazers, with three goals in the second period, won their third straight game Saturday night, beating the Tacoma Stars, 3-2, at the Forum.

The victory, before 6,041 fans, moved the Lazers out of the cellar and into fifth place in the Major Indoor Soccer League’s Western Division, 5 1/2 games behind first-place San Diego.

For the Lazers, who are 8-12, playing at home means everything. They are 7-3 at the Forum and 1-9 on the road.

Lazer Coach Peter Wall said: “The last thing we want is to go on the road. But we’ve been playing with confidence lately, so we’ll see what happens.”

Leading, 3-0, going into the second half, the Lazers appeared to be in command. But Tacoma (9-14) didn’t fold. Midway through the third period, Star forward Gary Heale put the ball past Lazer goalie Mike Mahoney to make it 3-1 game. The Lazers, plagued by fouls in the period, didn’t manage a shot on goal.

Tacoma got off 10 shots, with one by midfielder David Norman also finding the mark to make the score 3-2.

The Lazers could have been in trouble, but they managed to maintain their poise. “We didn’t panic,” Wall said. “We’re set in the style of play that suits us now, both on offense and defense.”

The Lazers outshot the Stars, 7-2, in a scorless fourth period but needed some fine defensive play to preserve the win. Overall, the Lazers were outshot, 23-19.

Neither team scored in the first period while playing rather tentatively. The Stars took six shots on goal and the Lazers five.

The second period belonged to the Lazers. Canada’s Greg Ion took a pass from Willie Molano at 4:43 and scored from just in front of the net.

Midway through the period, forward Poli Garcia scored off a crossfield pass from rookie Amr Aly to give Los Angeles a 2-0 lead.

Lazer forward Batata then made it 3-0 on a power play when he drilled the ball past Tacoma goalie Mike Dowler off an assist by defender Gus Mokalis

The Lazers’ next game is Friday against Baltimore at the Forum.