12 Strykers to Battle for $1 Million at TST starting Wednesday

Over 110 MASL players, including 11 from Empire, to compete in North Carolina

Cary, N.C. — This week, 11 Empire Strykers players — alongside head coach Onua Obasi — will participate in the highly-anticipated third edition of The Soccer Tournament (TST), a prestigious 7v7 event to take place June 4-9 in Cary, North Carolina, and featuring globally recognized stars as well as over 110 professionals from the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL).

With a winner-take-all $1 million prize pot on the line, TST matches will air on ESPNU, ESPN+ and YouTube. Strykers play-by-play voice Christian “Filly” Filimon is set to call 19 of them.

The Empire competitors, spread out across six separate squads, include standout performers from the 2024–25 MASL campaign, during which many reached new career highs and earned league honors under Obasi’s leadership and groundbreaking approach.

English Premier League giant West Ham United fields a strong lineup featuring Strykers goalkeepers Brian Orozco and Claysson de Lima, midfielder Justin Stinson, and defender Robert Palmer.

Orozco comes off a breakout season in the MASL, having posted an impressive 8–3–0 record (wins-losses-overtime/shootout losses) in 22 appearances, 12 of them starts. He contributed an assist and three goals, including two game-winners. Having previously been called up Guatemala’s futsal national team, the 23-year-old recently competed for the U.S. at the 2025 World Minifootball Federation (WMF) World Cup in Azerbaijan, earning a clean sheet against Poland.

Stinson, a 2025 MASL All-Star and MASL First Team honoree in his sixth Empire season, ranked second league-wide in goals (32) and tied for fifth in points (43). He competed alongside Strykers teammate Orozco at the 2025 WMF World Cup, bagging a brace in the Americans’ final group stage match against Kazakhstan.

2023-24 MASL Defender of the Year, Robert Palmer, most recently delivered another clutch campaign. In addition to finishing tied for second in the league in assists (21) and boasting 1.2 points per game (in 23), the veteran also served as Empire’s undisputed leader in the back, placing fifth in the MASL in blocks (51). He was named to the MASL Second Team.

2021 MASL Goalkeper of the Year, Claysson De Lima, finished the most recent season with a total of four assists.

Bumpy Pitch FC boasts goalkeeper Brandon Gomez, defender Momo Gueye, defender-midfielder Alan Perez and forward Mounir Alami. Gomez recorded two goals and two helpers in 13 games between the sticks in 2024-25, and former Morocco youth international Alami tallied 16 goals and 12 assists across 22 matches as he made the final three for MASL Rookie of the Year.

La Mexicana FC features midfielder Randy Martinez and forward Garrett Blume. While last season Martinez more than tripled his points per game from his rookie campaign in 2023-24, Blume spent 2024-25 with the Strykers reserve squad, the Empire Jets, having joined the first team after an impressive 2023 TST performance but having subsequently missed many months due to injury.

Boca Dallas brings one of the brightest stars of the indoor game in midfielder Marco Fabián, the 2023–24 MASL co-Golden Boot winner, Newcomer of the Year and Elite Six honoree. A Chivas de Guadalajara legend and two-time FIFA World Cup veteran with Mexico, Fabián comes off another excellent campaign with Empire, having been called up for the All-Star Game and named to the MASL Second Team after placing tied for sixth in the league in points per game (2.0 in 21) as well as eighth in both points (41) and goals (25).

Rounding out the Strykers representation is Newtown Pride FC, coached by Onua Obasi, who won 2024–25 MASL Coach of the Year honors after guiding Empire to its first playoff berth since 2021 with a revolutionary style that frequently saw the team’s goalkeepers join the attack. Obasi heads into his third TST with Newtown, having won the inaugural edition in 2023 and reached the semifinals in 2024.

In addition to West Ham United, among the internationally recognized brands competing on the men’s side of the bracket will be Club América, Villarreal CF, Borussia Dortmund, Wrexham Red Dragons, Cagliari Calcio, AFC Bournemouth and Atlético de Madrid. Star-studded rosters include not only many of the very best of the MASL but also icons of the outdoor games such as Sergio Agüero, Luis Nani and Sebastian Giovinco. Additionally, Pat McAfee and The CONCAFA SC will return to TST for a second time.