Empire Clinches Playoff Berth with 11-6 Win at Dallas

Allen, Tx. — The Empire Strykers punched their ticket to the 2024-25 Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) playoffs by way of an emphatic 11-6 away win over the Dallas Sidekicks on Saturday evening. Having seen several potential clinching scenarios come and go, the Strykers left no doubt this time around, dominating the game and jumping out to a commanding 8-1 lead before throwing caution to the wind in the final quarter to try and get Golden Boot contender Justin Stinson into more promising attacking positions.

 

In addition to a pair of assists, Stinson did bag his third straight hat trick, his heroics over the past week at least temporarily catapulting him to the top of the goalscoring charts with 32. The St. Louis native could still be leapfrogged in the final slate of regular season fixtures, which will be played tomorrow.

 

Midfielder Stinson's attacking output was matched by teammate Jorge DeLeon, who also had three netters and two helpers.

 

Goalkeeper Brian Orozco, defender Robert Palmer and forward Leonardo Espinoza enjoyed additional standout shifts for the visitors. Orozco boasted a .778 save percentage, conceding a mere two times in his 43 minutes on the turf. While Palmer's trio of assists saw Empire's backline anchor tie for second in the league, the Jamaican also recorded five blocks in the contest. Espinoza earned a total of three points.

 

Despite the emphatic Strykers win, a pair of Sidekicks defenders managed to shine. Former Empire fan favorite Nestor Hernandez recorded a goal and a helper as well as six blocks, with Moises Hernandez tallying once and getting in the way of three opposition efforts on frame.

 

In a stingy opening quarter, Moises Hernandez blasted a directly taken free kick off the underside of the bar from range, followed by Stinson's first of the game. Having received the ball from Emmanuel Aguirre on the left, the 27-year-old released a low, right-footed drive from behind the yellow line that nestled inside the far post for 0-1.

 

After Nestor Hernandez leveled the match from Jamie Lovegrove in the second period, the Strykers found a pair of late tallies for a two-goal halftime cushion. First, Tony De La Torre collected a Palmer pass within the final two minutes and rifled an unstoppable shot into the upper right corner of the frame. Then, Stinson grabbed his second with half a minute left on the clock, Palmer again serving up the helper.

 

The away side netted three more times in the third quarter to extend its lead to 6-1. Following a delicate DeLeon touch to lob the ball under the bar from close range, with Espinoza having played provider, Palmer released Abdul Mansaray down the right on a breakaway and the London native smashed a hard shot inside the near post. Stinson then picked out DeLeon for Empire's sixth.

 

In the wild closing  period, the Strykers initially picked up right where they had left off, tallying two more times for an 8-1 advantage. Espinoza converted from DeLeon, and Polo Hernandez claimed the assist as Randy Martinez found the net against six attackers.  

 

After Flavio Guzman pulled one back for Dallas on a helper by Anthony Powell, firing a low left-footed effort inside the far post from behind the yellow line on the left, it was now Empire's turn to go with six attackers as the side attempted to add to Stinson's goal total. The calculation paid off almost immediately, as the 2025 All-Star brought the score to 2-9 by converting a DeLeon assist. Dallas subsequently made successful use of the strategy as well, cutting its deficit back down to six on a restart from the right by Jamie Lovegrove and a brilliant backheel by Moises Hernandez.

 

With both teams temporarily opting to sacrifice their respective goalkeepers, the Sidekicks managed to get another one back as Powell set up Rafael Rodriguez. While the visitors subsequently returned to playing with a nominal netminder, Dallas continued on with six attackers and rode the offensive overload to its third straight tally, Felipe De Sousa scoring from Felipe Silva for 5-9.

 

If the run of goals had triggered any hope among the Sidekicks that they might be able to claw their way back into the game, that was extinguished by way of consecutive opposition netters. Back to six attackers, DeLeon completed his hat trick on an Espinoza helper, followed by a Stinson assist and a Mounir Alami tally for 5-11. At the time of Empire's eleventh,  both teams were once again playing without their respective backstops. After the Strykers returned their goalkeeper to the field, Dallas found the net one last time to round out the final score at 6-11, Joaquin Rivas tallying from Nestor Hernandez.

 

Empire will travel south next weekend for the 2024-25 MASL playoffs, the first two rounds of which will be hosted by the San Diego Sockers at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside.