AMBUSH BLOW OUT STARS 7-3 FRIDAY NIGHT

Kent, W– The St. Louis Ambush won the first game of a two-game weekend series against the Tacoma Stars with a 7-3 triumph Friday night at the accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington. The win improved the Ambush to 3-4 on the season, while the Stars fell to 1-2.

St. Louis wasted no time finding the back of the net as Vadim Cojocov scored just 31 seconds into the match. It would prove to be the lone goal of the opening quarter, which expired with the visitors leading 1-0.

Cojocov made it 2-0 at 9:44 of the second period. In each of Cojocov’s tallies, he went on a breakaway and found himself one on one with Tacoma goalkeeper Danny Waltman, and Cojocov prevailed both times. St. Louis went up 3-0 when Niko Karidis fired a long shot from outside the arc that found its mark at 11:13 of the second frame. Tacoma got on the board at 12:58 when Nick Perera got a shot by Ambush goalkeeper Sway Mazon. Neither team scored again in the quarter, giving St. Louis a 3-1 lead at halftime.

The Ambush were the first to score in the second half when Pepe Junqueira scored at 6:49 of the third stanza. Less than a minute later (7:32), Richard Schmermund made it 5-1 for St. Louis. Tacoma reduced the deficit to three when Alessandro Canale scored on a restart at 14:20 for a 5-2 Ambush lead heading into the final quarter.

St. Louis got off to another fast start in the final period as they did in the first one. This time it was Ado Jahic who pounded the ball into the net just 15 seconds into the fourth quarter to make it 6-2. With the sixth attacker in play for Tacoma, Canale nailed his second of the night to make it a 6-3 game at 9:39. The Ambush got one back when a Tacoma player headed a ball that found the foot of St. Louis’ Mo Ndiaye, who was able to lob it into the net at 10:34. St. Louis held on until the final buzzer to solidify the 7-3 win.

The victory was the first for Jeff Locker as interim head coach. Locker took the reigns of the team on Wednesday after the resignation of Greg Muhr.

Ambush goalkeeper Sway Mazon turned in an impressive performance between the pipes, making 14 saves on 17 attempts for an .824 save percentage. Tacoma’s Danny Waltman saved seven on 13 attempts for a .538 save percentage in the contest.

The two teams will go at it again in less than 48 hours. The rematch is slated for Sunday, January 9 at 7:05 p.m. CST. Following Sunday’s action, the Ambush kick off a two-game home stand, welcoming the Kansas City Comets to The Family Arena on Friday, January 14 at 7:35 p.m. CST, followed by a visit from the Chihuahua Savage on Sunday, January 16 at 3:05 p.m. CST.

Tickets are available at the Family Arena box office and at ticketmaster.com. Fans can stay current on all Ambush news by visiting the team’s official website, stlambush.com and on social media outlets.

-30-