Lamar Neagle joins Tacoma Stars

Lamar Neagle will be playing in the 253, after all. The four-time Seattle Sounder announced on Friday that he’ll be joining the Tacoma Stars of the Major Arena Soccer League and is expected to be available for Sunday’s game at the ShoWare Center. The Stars are currently in second place in the Pacific Division.

This will be Neagle’s first official foray into indoor soccer, but he has a decorated history playing in the Pacific Northwest. After starring at Federal Way’s Thomas Jefferson High and leading them to a state championship, Neagle eventually made his way to the Sounders where he earned a spot on the inaugural MLS roster as an undrafted free agent in 2009. Neagle spent the next year in the USL and in Finland before returning to the Sounders in 2011, where he had five goals and two assists. Neagle was then traded to the Montreal Impact as part of the Eddie Johnson transaction before coming back to the Sounders in 2013. He had three reasonably productive seasons with the Sounders — including a nine-goal, nine-assist performance in 2014 — and was eventually traded to D.C. United. Neagle was again traded back to the Sounders in 2017, but played sparingly until he left following the 2018 campaign. Neagle did score four goals — all at home in Tacoma — in eight appearances with S2 last year.

Neagle had been on trial with the USL’s Phoenix Rising and an Instagram post last week suggested the 31-year-old had several options regarding his future. It appears Neagle has opted to remain in the area rather than try to extend his outdoor career, joining the likes of Landon Donovan in the MASL.