Justin Stinson grew up in St. Charles. He went to Francis Howell High School, where he was a highly recruited athlete.

On Friday night, he returned to the Family Arena as a member of the rival Empire Strykers. And he wasn’t the only familiar face, and former Ambush players Riley Urie, Randy Martinez and Qudus Lawal all also are on the Strykers roster.

But the Ambush were not ready to have their night spoiled.

“Super Mario” Mario Falsone scored twice, and the Ambush did just enough on defense to secure a 4-2 victory on Friday night. Colin O’Keefe scored the fourth and final goal of the evening for St. Louis, one that Empire originally challenged (and failed) to overturn.

Stinson did have an assist on a late goal during an offensive surge for Empire, but it was too large of a deficit to overcome.

The victory improves the Ambush to 5-3-2 overall on the season, and 3-1-1 at The Family Arena. The Strykers fell to 2-6-0 overall and 1-4-0 on the road in the ’25-’26 season.