The weekend of games for the Tacoma Tide yielded two wins: one pretty, and one ugly. Friday night’s 4 -1 drumming of the Spokane Spiders was beautiful. Saturday night, the Yakima Reds forced the Tide take another route. Two red cards, constant referee dispute, an early deficit, and tired legs forced the Tide to win ugly, and they did.

On another warm night in Tacoma, the Tide had few substitutes, and some tired legs. Weary legs were quickly tested when the visiting Yakima Reds put in a goal on their first shot of the night. Jose Garcia made an early impact with his poke past goalkeeper Daniel Prichard. It wasn’t long before Jose Garcia was in the spot light again. In the 35th minute, a clearance attempted by Tide defender Stephen Mohn brought a very late tackle from Jose Garcia. He was given a straight red card. Yakima held onto the 1 - 0 lead until half time.

With the sun setting at Curtis High School, the Tide began to rise. Rory Agu, usually on the receiving end of a nice pass was this time the distributor. Agu found space on the right wing and crossed in a deep ball to the back post. Streaking in to volley it home was Chase Tangney. Tangney beat a Yakima defender to equalize the game in the 57th minute. More cards were exchanged and the game continued to test both teams. Yakima, a man down, was forced to sit in and defend their evaporating lead. A few streaking runs from Jr. Garcia kept the Tide defense honest. One shot from Jr. Garcia could have turned the game back around for Yakima. Jr. Garcia rocketed a 20 yard shot off the cross bar.

Attack after attack finally paid off for Tacoma in the 77th minute. A scramble in the box laid the ball at the feet of Tide halftime substitute Scott Hand. Hand drove a low shot off the far post and Schomaker was there to acrobatically volley home. A sigh of relief came from the home crowd that had urged the long fight back. Things weren’t done however. Another red card for Yakima put them down two players in the 81st minute. Rory Agu was pulled down by defender Alvaro Valencia, who was deemed the last man. The game ended in even more turmoil and finally after almost no stoppage time, the center referee Shahram Pourazari ended the chippy game.

With the win, the Tide moves into a tie for 1st place in the Northwest Division. BYU and Tacoma have 13 points after 5 games. The Tide’s next game is June 8th at home against the Cascade Surge.

Starters: Tacoma - Pritchard, Mohn, Tangen, Hoss, Lee, Knapp, O’Brien, Fishbaugher, Tangney, Agu, Schomaker.

               Reds - Stebbins, Stevenson, Lopez, Rogalsky, Jr. Garcia, Valencia, Galvan, Jose Garcia, Calderon, Hernandez, Mobley.

photo by Jenni Connor, Yellowfans.com                       - If you would like to be included in the Tacoma Tide fan email list, send your email address to JBillings@TacomaFC.com