Strykers Fall 10-3 Away to Ruthless Chihuahua

Defending champs ride strong goalkeeping, trio of three-point performances to victory

The box score and match facts may be found here.

Chihuahua, Mexico — The Empire Strykers kicked off their 2024-25 Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) campaign with a 10-3 defeat away to the reigning back-to-back champion Chihuahua Savage on Friday evening. The Savage boasted three-point performances from defender Roberto Escalante, midfielder Carlos Hernandez and forward Hugo Puentes as well as outstanding displays from both goalkeepers. With veteran Diego Reynoso playing roughly three quarters of the game and registering a .857 save percentage, understudy Luan Teles also put up an impressive number at .833.

The two sides exchanged beautiful tallies inside the first quarter. After Chihuahua’s Hernandez rifled a bullet under the crossbar on a Brian Macias restart, Empire’s Quenton Swift sent a defensive header all the way to the left corner of the opposition box, where it was met by the forehead of Mounir Alami. The former Morocco youth international deftly cushioned the ball across the goal and into the top right-hand corner to level things at 1-1.

The home side reclaimed the lead when Pedro Castaneda set up Jose Gilberto Lopez, and Escalante then made it 3-1 on a strike that closely resembled the day’s first goal, his powerful drive from range on a Hernandez layoff finding the roof of the net. The Savage would extend its lead to three shortly thereafter, Miguel Angel Diaz ruthlessly pouncing on a misplayed ball from goalkeeper Brandon Gomez by slotting into the open net. Escalante would round out the opening-period scoring, as he converted a helper by Puentes.

After a second quarter that saw a single goal in 15 minutes of play, Puentes finding Brandon González for Chihuahua’s sixth, the Strykers seemed to come out of intermission with renewed energy. Englishman Abdul Mansaray cut the Southern Californians’ deficit to 2-6 on an assist from Brazilian Cyro Oliveira, but the Savage quickly reestablished its previous advantage, Escalante setting up Hernandez for the Mexicans’ seventh.

Empire’s remaining bit of hope was crushed when they not only failed to score on a power play but fell victim to a veteran move by forward Puentes to fall behind 2-8. As the two-minute penalty expired with Empire backstop Brian Orozco pushed up to create an additional man advantage, Puentes timed his reentry perfectly, as he intercepted a pass by the unsuspecting Robert Palmer and picked out the deserted frame. Chihuahua would add two more before the end of the period, Jorge Rios first tapping home and then playing provider on Macias’s 10-2 tally.

The Strykers left Corner Sport Arena on a positive note, as Head Coach Onua Obasi’s men battled the hosts to a fiercely contested closing quarter, which they managed to win courtesy of a wonder goal from their star player, former El Tri attacker Marco Fabián. On a restart from the right, Justin Stinson fed the ball centrally to Fabián, who was located well outside the area and found the inside of the far post with one of his signature right-footed rockets.

The Empire Strykers take on Utica City FC in their 2024-25 MASL home opener on Friday, December 13, at 7:35 PM PST. Season tickets are available here and and single-game tickets here.