Strykers Look to Bounce Back in Meetings with Stars, Sockers

January 11, 2024 – Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) – Empire Strykers News Release

Ontario, Calif. – Having split its recent pair of must-win games, the Empire Strykers have spent the time since Tuesday’s home defeat to the Texas Outlaws trying to make sense of it all as they prepare for another pair of back-to-back Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) matches. Sitting one spot below the Western Conference playoff line at 2-6-0 (wins-losses-overtime/shootout losses), the Southern Californians will stay within the friendly confines of Ontario’s Toyota Arena for both Sunday’s clash with fellow postseason contenders Tacoma Stars and Wednesday’s meeting with the mighty San Diego Sockers.

Empire takes on Tacoma on January 14 at 4:05 p.m. PT and San Diego on January 17 at 7:05 p.m. PT. Tickets for both games are available here. All the action will be streamed live in English on Twitch, with Wednesday’s match also being available in Spanish on Canela. A full channel lineup for MASL broadcasts may be found here.

On January 6, the Strykers celebrated their best performance of their campaign so far, downing host Dallas Sidekicks 10-4. It was the second time in a row nominal forward Moustapha “Momo” Gueye dropped to the back for Empire while nominal defender Stefan Mijatovic played up top. The moves, which were first tried out by Head Coach Paul Wright in a December 28 home game against Tacoma, paid real dividends at Dallas, with the Strykers defense looking much improved and Mijatovic contributing a goal and two assists. Marco Fabián found the net twice in the contest, adding a pair of helpers, and Justin Stinson bagged a hat-trick.

Although Empire next fell 10-5 to the visiting Texas Outlaws, they again seemed to profit from Gueye and Mijatovic’s changed roles, as they went toe-to-toe with an outstanding opponent until seven minutes into the second half. Mijatovic scored the opener and recorded the assist on the final tally of the game.

“Stefan is collecting points up there, and he’s really enjoying it,” said forward-turned-defender Gueye, who has been drawing on his experience as a left back in traditional soccer. “I’m comfortable in my new position too, and I want to help make us harder to break down. Any of our guys can score at any time, so if we keep other teams from scoring, we will win. Most of us feel that switching Stefan and me has already made a huge difference. Whatever makes the team better is what we should keep doing.”

With the Outlaws having led…