After a summer season, 8 road matches and 7 home games, the Tacoma Tide season was still in the balance. The Tide needed a tie or a win in their 8th and final home match to make the playoffs. Yakima, their opponent would snatch a playoffs spot from the Tide if they got the win. To add to the evening’s importance, a festive setting was made by a pre-game carnival with blowups, BBQ, games, and even a dunk tank to appreciate fans and sponsors. However, the party was momentarily halted as the Tide went down 1-0 in the 11th minute of play. Jr. Garcia, the league’s leading scorer, broke away from the Tide defense to notch his 14th goal of the season. Garcia’s 14 goals matches his entire team’s combined total. He is a definite candidate for the NorthWest Division - Player of the Year. The Tide took the goal like a cold shower in the morning; they were woken up.
Things got rolling just 5 minutes after the Yakima goal. A Dennis Sanchez lofted cross created a difficult catch for Reds’ goalkeeper, Robert McCurdy. Daniel Scott challenged the keeper, and when the ball squirted free, Spencer Schomaker swept it in. Before Yakima could catch a breath, Schomaker struck again. Tucker Maxwell’s long throw-in met the rising forward for a textbook header inside the near post. The 2-1 Tide advantage meant Yakima had to score 2 more goals and stop the Tacoma attack to qualify for the playoffs. The Tide kept pushing.
The Tide have scored more goals than any other team in the Premier Development League (46 goals at the end of the regular season). With that in mind, the Tide were not finished with 2 goals. Ruben Orozco, the St. Martins University product, made his mark on the match with his orchestration of the midfield all night. If that wasn’t enough, he had a left footed screamer to make the score 3-1 in the 31st minute. The ball was laid off to Orozco by Schomaker. Ruben faked a shot with the right foot, and cut it to his left. Without a moment’s hesitation, he drove the left footer into the far netting.
With a 3-1 lead, the Tide were in control at halftime but nobody wanted to jinx the performance. Yakima’s quick-hitting attack with Jacob Segare (former Sounder & Timbers player) along side Jr. Garcia kept Tacoma focused. Garcia almost crept in again for another goal to start the 2nd half, but it was the Tide who got a strangle hold on the match. Rory Agu was running at the Yakima defense Spencer Schomaker to his right. Alvaro Valencia was caught between a rock and a hard place. Agu knocked the ball past Valencia and was pulled down. With no one except his keeper behind him, Valencia’s foul stopped a definite scoring opportunity so he was given a red card. The uphill battle for Yakima became steep. It turned up a notch when Tangney and Cox teamed up to give the Tide goal number 4. Jr. Garcia would score yet another goal to make the score 4-2, but the Tide utilized the extra player to open the field and get 2 more goals. Agu scored in the 82nd and Schomaker finished off his hat-trick in the 90th minute.
The night was a great success for the Tacoma Tide franchise. Fun for the fans was combined with fun on the field for the players. The dessert; a playoff berth. The Western Conference playoffs will be played in Frenso, California. The format pits the top two teams from the Northwest Division (#1-Tacoma, #2-Vancouver) and the Southwest Division (#1-San Fernando, #2-Fresno) against eachother in a final four style weekend.
4:30 PM – San Fernando Valley Quakes vs. Vancouver Whitecaps Residency
7:30 PM – Fresno Fuego vs. Tacoma Tide
The winners will advance to the finals on Sunday at 7:30 PM.
You can watch Saturday night’s festivities on TV for free. To watch, go to Channel 1. From there, select Get Local, then Local Sports, and finally Tacoma Tide.
