Tropics meet Empire Strykers Tuesday in Ontario, CA

LAKELAND, FL. -- The Florida Tropics, atop the Major Arena Soccer League’s east division, will travel to meet their second straight west division foe when they take on the Empire Strykers in Ontario, California, Tuesday night.

The game will kick off at 9:05 p.m. EST and will be broadcast live on MASL TV on Twitch. 

Florida is 4-1-1, having suffered its first regulation-time loss of the young season Dec. 30 when the Chihuahua Savage posted a 9-5 win at the RP Funding Center. Despite that, Florida is in first in the east with 13 points – teams get three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime win and one for an overtime loss – and is ahead of the Kansas City Comets who are 4-2-2 with 12 points, but who have played two more games than the Tropics. Milwaukee is in third place at 3-0-1 good for 10 points, having played two fewer games than Florida and four less than the Comets.

Empire after dropping its first four games of the season, including one in overtime, comes in following a 9-6 road win on Dec. 18 in Dallas. Justin Stinson is their leading goal scorer with five while Gabriel Costs leads the team in points with nine (four goals and five assists). Netminder Chris Toth comes in ranked fourth in goals against average (4.55), and second in
saves percentage at .788. 

Florida’s goal-scoring leader is Zach Reget, who has at least one goal in all six of the Tropics games so far this year, with nine. Victor Parreiras leads in points with 13 (six goals, seven assists) which is currently tied for third in overall scoring in the MASL.

After the quick western trip, Florida will be back home to host the Harrisburg Heat Jan. 6 and 8 at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland. Kickoff for Friday’s game will be 7:05 p.m. while Sunday’s start is set for 3:05 p.m. The weekend doubleheader will be capping off an intense stretch of eight games in 18 days.

Tickets for all home games are available starting at just $7 per game by calling the arena box office at 863-834-8111. Although tickets are also available online at www.rpfundingcenter.com, service fees are significantly higher through Ticketmaster as opposed to calling the box office directly. Tickets are also available on game day at the box office.