February 1, 2024 – Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) – Empire Strykers News Release
Ontario, Calif. – Coming off a dramatic overtime win over the visiting St. Louis Ambush, the Empire Strykers face a Herculean task this coming Sunday as they look to make it consecutive home wins in their clash with the 13-0-0 (win-losses-overtime/shootout losses) Monterrey Flash. Grasping on to their playoff hopes by a thread, the 3-9-0 Strykers are under pressure to succeed in a mission that is as straightforward as it is daunting: stay in contention by upsetting the best team in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL).
Empire takes on Monterrey this coming Sunday, February 4, 2024, at 4:05 p.m. PT. Tickets to the crucial match at Ontario’s Toyota Arena are available here. All the action will be streamed live in English on Twitch and in Spanish on Canela.
The Strykers experienced an emotional rollercoaster ride in their January 28 win over St. Louis. Having led by three goals at intermission and by four in the game’s third quarter, the Southern Californians gave up five straight tallies to find themselves down 6-7 with the final whistle imminent. However, instead of suffering a repeat of the events that had transpired in the loss to Tacoma three days prior, Empire forced overtime by way of a deflected Momo Gueye shot that leveled the match with less than six seconds left. Mexican star Marco Fabián then scored the golden goal to send the home crowd into a frenzy.
While Justin Stinson led the Strykers attack with four assists on the day, Fabián and Stefan Mijatovic shared a close second at three points apiece. Midfielder Fabián wasn’t the only ex-El Tri and Chivas de Guadalajara ace who found the net against the Ambush, as recent Empire signing Miguel Ponce scored his debut goal in professional indoor soccer to put his side ahead 3-1 in the second period. Ponce provided a nuanced assessment of the wild encounter with the Ambush.
“The fans liked it because it was a spectacle, but it didn’t need to be so close,” he said. “When we were several goals up, it almost seemed easy, but then the game became very intense. In my experience, when you have a big lead, sometimes you become too relaxed. That’s a big mistake. It’s why we came out of halftime the way we did on Sunday. In the last quarter, both Tacoma and St. Louis tied it late and then quickly scored again. Those things can’t happen anymore. At the same time, I’m happy because we got the win and because I scored my first…
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