Strykers Trade Claysson De Lima to Tacoma

Goalkeeper joins Stars after nearly eight full seasons with Empire

 Ontario, Calif. — The Empire Strykers of the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) today announced they have traded goalkeeper Claysson De Lima to the Tacoma Stars in exchange for financial considerations. A native of Brazil who settled in Southern California after moving stateside, the 27-year-old spent nearly eight full seasons with the Strykers, serving mostly as a high-level backup but also proving instrumental over the course of the deepest playoff run in club history.

De Lima joined Empire as a 19-year-old in 2017 and would go on to appear in 54 regular season games and eight playoff games between then and now. He was the hands-down starter during the MASL’s “COVID season” in 2021, playing in every match as the Ontario Fury (today’s Empire Strykers) made its way to the league final, where then-Head Coach Jimmy Nordberg’s men fell 2-1 to rival San Diego in the decisive mini game after each side had bagged one victory. De Lima earned MASL Goalkeeper of the Year honors for his strong performances that season.

The Brazilian has assembled a combined regular season goals-against average of 6.06 during his time with Empire, to go with a 64.8% save percentage.

Empire’s Managing Partner, Jeff Burum, said, “We’d like to thank Claysson De Lima for his contributions to our organization over the years. He was integral during our most successful stretch as a member of the MASL and has been well liked in the community. For the past three seasons, we’ve been blessed to have a trio of very strong goalkeepers at our disposal, which has made playing time hard to come by at times for a player of Claysson’s caliber. We hope he sees the field a lot with Tacoma and wish him nothing but the best going forward.”

The Empire Strykers next welcome rivals San Diego Sockers to Ontario for a clash with massive playoff implications on Thursday, March 5. Tickets to all Strykers games at Toyota Arena are available here.