Stars Reserves Defeat Everett City FC 3-1 in WISL Season Opener

In the opening match of the 2025-26 Western Indoor Soccer League (WISL) season on Nov. 1, the Tacoma Stars Reserves, the league's defending champs, hosted Everett City FC in a rematch of last year’s WISL semifinal.

In a defensive fixture that saw both teams locked in a scoreless draw at the end of the first period, Tacoma broke through early in the second when Josh Szidik scored to make it 1-0. Jonathan Ruis and Luis Chavez, off an assist from AJ Nitzel, added goals to extend Tacoma’s lead to 3-0.

WISL veteran Andrew Escalante, in his first season with Everett, scored the club’s only goal to make it 3-1.

“As a post player, goals and assists are huge, so being able to start the season with a goal against the defending champions is always nice — especially with my new team, Everett City FC,” Escalante said. “We said we wanted to score before the end of the half, and we did. It was a tough first match, but I thought we did well. Little mistakes cost us easy goals in the first half, but in the second half, we limited those mistakes and kept a clean sheet.”

The third and fourth quarters mirrored the opening frame, with neither team able to find the back of the net. Tacoma held its 3-1 advantage to secure the win.

Goalkeeper Austin Rogers earned first-star honors after three periods of scoreless netminding.

 "At the end of the day, the goalkeeper’s job is to make saves. Our defense did an outstanding job preventing back-post chances and shutting down transition breakaways, which allowed me to focus on shot-stopping and rebound control. It’s a performance we’re proud of and one we hope to build on in the coming weeks," said Rogers.

Up next, Tacoma will host Oly-Pen Force on Nov. 8, while Everett will welcome the Snohomish Sky for a cross-county showdown.