Wanted: a major momentum swing.

The Albany Conquest will be trying to snap a two-game losing streak and at the same time end the American Conference East Div­ision-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers’ six-game winning skein in a key arenafootball2 game tonight at 7 at Wachovia Arena.

The 3-3 Conquest, second in the division behind the Pioneers, are coming off a 62-53 loss to the Daytona Beach ThunderBirds last week at the Ocean Center. Albany got to within two points with 5:20 left in the game, but couldn’t get any closer.

Injuries and other situations involving several impact players have slowed the Conquest, who got off to a 3-1 start this season.

First, Albany lost the services of wideout/kick returner Jared Jones to a knee injury. Later, top defensive back Clarence Curry went down with a leg injury. The Conquest also lost breakaway receiving threat Antwun Williams when he attended the New York Jets’ rookie camp. Earlier this week, Schenectady High School and University at Albany graduate Jacob Hobbs, a tight end/offensive lineman, signed a contract with the New York Giants.

Hobbs won’t be back, and Curry and Jones are questionable for tonight’s game. Williams is back in the lineup and will be one of the Conquest’s top receiving threats, along with Chris Bocage, a rookie from USC who rolled up a career-best 286 all-purpose yards against the ThunderBirds. In the last two weeks, he has piled up 538 all-purpose yards and scored eight touchdowns.

“We really don’t have any excuses for the way we’ve played the last couple of weeks,” said Conquest head coach Jeff Hoffman. “Any of those [missing] pieces shouldn’t be enough to slow us down. We just haven’t been playing the type of football that I’m trying to build. We should be playing for each other. At Daytona, we didn’t do that. In fact, we haven’t done that for the last three halves.”

Even if Jones doesn’t make his return to the team tonight, Hoffman is satisfied with his receiving corps.

“Usually, I take what the other team gives me,” said Hoffman. “If they give me Antwun or Chris, I’ll take what they’re offering me. I’m smart enough to know in football that if they offer you something, take it. That means if the defense gives you something or someone, take it. I love my receiving corps right now. They are all hard working, and everyone can play.”

Hoffman is also extremely happy about the play of former Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute quarterback Dan Cole, who threw for a career-best 329 yards and six touchdowns against the ThunderBirds. Cole is averaging 262.3 passing yards and 5.2 TD passes per game. He paces the af2 in total offensive yards per game (277.7) and pass attempts (224). He is tied for second in passing yards (1,574), total offense (2,666 yards) and TDs passes (31).

But the Pioneers (6-1) have plenty of firepower of their own. Ryan Vena, a former Conquest quarterback who played three seasons in Albany (2002, 2003 and 2006), still owns 12 franchise records, including 12,013 career passing yards and 213 TD passes. In five games for the ThunderBirds, he is 86-for-125 for 1,051 yards and 28 TDs.

J.J. Outlaw (37 catches, 486 yards, 10 TDs) and Rich Musinski (35 receptions, 441 yards, 12 TDs) are Vena’s top receiving threats.

“This is definitely going to be a challenge for us,” said Hoffman. “There are a lot of things we must do right in order to slow the ThunderBirds down. First of all, their defensive line puts a lot of pressure on the quarterback. We need to protect Dan, but we also need to neutralize their quick-score offense. We’ve got to make their drives longer, and we need to control the tempo of the game.

“We talked about playing this team all week, and we’ve been trying to focus on what a big challenge this is. We’re going against a great team, and hopefully, our guys realize that. We need to have an all-out effort to win.”