Inside The Indoor Game // Luis Birrueta

Talk about being thrown into the deep end of the pool without much notice.

Luis Birrueta was sitting on the Tacoma Stars bench in the fourth quarter, watching his Major Arena Soccer League team battle with the San Diego Sockers on Dec. 9, 2023, when he unexpectedly was thrust into the middle of the action.

Goalkeeper Chris Toth had been issued a blue card after tripping Brandon Escoto in the penalty area at 2:26. The Stars were forced to play two men down for two minutes (another blue card was awarded seconds prior). Birrueta, who did not have a second of MASL experience, entered the game cold, at accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash., having to face a penalty kick.

Was that 25-year-old keeper nervous?

Not exactly.

"I was excited because I hadn't played in an environment like that," Birrueta said. "I wouldn't say I was super nervous. We all get the nerves going into a game. As soon as you play, they just go away. I wasn’t scared, 'Oh, he's going to score on me,' because we trained for this day in and day out."

Birrueta then proceeded to save Escoto's penalty.

Enjoying a 5-on-3 advantage, the Sockers tallied two power-play goals en route to a 9-6 victory.

While the result did not go the way Birrueta and his teammates had wanted, it turned out to be a harbinger for the talented keeper.

Birrueta has been nothing short of outstanding for the Stars this season, winning goalkeeper of the week twice, in Week Three and Week 9. He was also chosen as one of two MASL Goalkeepers of the Month for December.

Entering this weekend's action, the 27-year-old keeper is third in goals-against average (5.14), fourth in save percentage (.705), and tied for second in wins (six). A big reason why the Stars (7-4) are in fourth place.

As a reserve goalie for the last two seasons, Birrueta had an inkling that this campaign would be different during The Soccer Tournament, the winner-take-all 7 v 7 competition in Cary, N.C.  Eleven Stars players, among dozens from the MASL, participated. While on the Sneaky Fox 97 team, Toth gave Birrueta some advice last summer.

"Chris was like, ‘Just be ready. You never know what can happen,’ " Birrueta said, before Toth joined the Sockers. "I got ready throughout the summer. Worked out for six months. I always mentally try to stay prepared, just in case. You never know what can happen. But this year, it was more to try to be the best person and best player I can be for the team, for myself. Then go from there and let the coaches make the decision."

Tacoma head coach Adam Becker liked what he saw and decided to start Birreuta, who shed 30 lbs. and put on more muscle on his 6-foot, 183-lb. frame.

Birreuta's story is one of patience and persistence because he played behind two legendary indoor goalkeepers - Danny Waltman, who forged a 20-year career frustrating his opposition, and Toth, a five-time MASL goalkeeper of the year.

"Knowing that these two legends are in front of me didn't really bother me that I wasn't able to play," he said. "I was always like, 'Okay, what can I do to better myself?’ I always took that mindset that my time will come.

"I've always had people who never thought I was going to make it, coming from a small town."

That would be Yakima, Washington (population 97,390).

"A lot of people never thought I would even get to where I'm at," he said.

Birreuta credited former Stars and current Sockers forward Nick Perera as a mentor.

"He was able to teach me quite a bit,” he said. “And now, Coach Becker. He believes in me more than most people. He was the one who brought me into the reserves, to play freely and just be myself."

The enthusiastic Birreuta also learned from Waltman.

"He's a good mentor. He taught me some of the ropes," he said. "For a couple years, I was there learning, training with him every day, and then I stole some stuff from him."

By the word stole, Birrueta meant borrowed.

It happens all the time in every sport: Learn from the veterans.

Toth backstopped the Stars in most of their games the past two campaigns, but Birrueta saw some playing time.

"Having Chris, I'm going to just try my best again, instead of complaining to coaches: 'Why can't I get my chance? I just learned from Chris,” Birrueta said. “Chris taught me some things that were a little different. I can't thank both of them enough. There are always things to learn from those two guys, and I would say, arguably, two of the best goalkeepers in the league."

When he was seven, Birrueta played as a central midfielder. During an Under-9 youth game, his team's goalie got hurt, and he was placed in the net.

He had received some mentoring from his brother, Antonio, who was two years older. When they practiced at home, Birreuta played in goal.

"My brother would shoot on me and [I learned] how to be a goalie, just for fun," he said. “I went into that game … playing against eight-, nine-year-olds. I did good. I never switched my position. I guess we can thank my big brother for making me play goalie."

Birrueta forged a reputation as a top keeper, earning 4A Wa Big 9 MVP honors in 2016 at Davis High School before attending Bellevue College. With the Stars reserve team, Birreuta helped the team to a pair of Western Indoor Soccer League championships and the Premier Arena Soccer League national crown.

Birrueta attended the same high school as Super Bowl-bound Cooper Kupp.

Kupp, a wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks, was the MVP of Super Bowl LVI (2022). At 32, he is five years older than Birrueta. They have met.

"But he probably doesn’t remember me," Birrueta said. "I played basketball with his younger brother, Ketner Kupp.

"He [Kupp] has definitely inspired me that with hard work, anything is possible!"

Kupp attended Eastern Washington University, which is not known as a great football school. Yet, he scored an NCAA Division I record 73 career touchdowns before Seattle drafted him.

"He was not a highly recruited player. He was a smaller player. I had the same [situation]," Birrueta said. "In 2016, 2017 especially in the U.S., a lot of coaches, Division I, II, wanted 6-foot-2, 6-foot-3 goalkeepers."

Birrueta has taken Kupp as inspiration and run with it.

"Anything's possible," he said. "I always put that in my mind. Cooper Kupp has definitely made a name for himself. Hopefully, he can get another Super Bowl win."

That would be in Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8.

"I'll be rooting for the Seahawks and Cooper Kupp," he said.

Given what he has accomplished this MASL season, many Tacoma soccer supporters likely are rooting for Birrueta these days.

Michael Lewis, the sixth recipient of the Clay Berling Media Career of Excellence Award in 2025, can be followed on X (formerly Twitter) and Bluesky at @Soccerwriter. His 10th soccer book, Around the World Cup in 40 Years: An American sportswriter's perspective, will be published this spring.