Tacoma Takes 1-0 Lead in MISL Title Series

Preki scored four goals and assisted on four others Tuesday night to lead the Tacoma Stars to a 10-4 victory over the Dallas Sidekicks in the opener of the Major Indoor Soccer League championship series.

The Stars scored seven straight goals, breaking a 2-2 tie, in front of 11,496 in the Tacoma Dome. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series will be played in Tacoma Thursday night.

Preki’s hat trick was his second straight and third of the playoffs. He fell one point short of the MISL playoff record of nine points in a game held by teammate Steve Zungul.

Preki scored Tacoma’s first goal off Zungul’s steal at 8:29 of the first quarter. Gary Heale rebounded in a missed Preski shot to give the Stars a 2-0 lead at 10:23 in the first quarter.

Doc Lawson scored both of the Sidekicks’ goals in the second quarter. But Preki put the Stars ahead for good two minutes before halftime when he scored on Ricky Davis’ assist for a 3-2 Tacoma lead. That started Tacoma’s string of seven straight goals.