December 25, 2023 – Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) – Empire Strykers News Release
Ontario, Calif. – After consecutive losses to visiting Baltimore and host San Diego just over a week ago, the Empire Strykers are intent on boosting their morale and their postseason chances on Thursday with what would be a crucial home win over the Tacoma Stars. A third straight defeat would put genuine pressure on Head Coach Paul Wright and his squad as the Strykers look to return to the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) playoffs following a two-year absence. Sitting at 1-4, Wright’s men can ill-afford to fall further behind in the count if they are to avoid a Herculean task in the three remaining months of the regular season.
Empire takes on Tacoma this coming Thursday, December 28, at 7:05 p.m. PT. The match at Ontario’s Toyota Arena will feature the club’s annual Stuffed Animal Toss as well as $10 tickers for all seats, available for purchase here. All the action will be streamed live in English and Spanish via the MASL’s channels on Twitch and Canela, respectively. A complete channel lineup for live MASL broadcasts may be found here.
Playing in front of their home fans for the first time, Empire fell 7-5 to the Baltimore Blast on December 15. While Marco Fabián made history in his maiden MASL game, bagging a goal and two assists for the Strykers, Baltimore’s Moises Gonzalez matched the Mexican’s attacking output to lead his side to victory.
Said Empire Head Coach Wright, “With it being our home opener and Marco’s debut, you could tell we had some nerves in the first quarter and the guys were a little bit on edge. Once we settled down, we started to play our type of game, but we were faced with a very experienced team that exposed us somewhat in our inexperience.”
A mere two days later, the Strykers battled the mighty San Diego Sockers to an even, stingy affair until defender Bryce Watson picked up a blue card in the second period and his short-handed mates subsequently conceded the first tally of the contest. The Sockers would score two more before the end of the quarter and ultimately held on for a 7-3 win. Empire showed a decent reaction after the break, Justin Stinson finding the net twice and Fabián scoring a goal of his own.
“We had a pretty good game plan going in and stuck to it,” offered Paul Wright, who rose to legendary status with San Diego as a forward. “We did well to keep it scoreless for a long time, but then the power play against us got the…