SeaWolves Come Back To Beat Ambush
ST. CHARLES, Missouri (Feb. 2, 2019) - A very physical affair that mirrored the past two matchups between the Orlando SeaWolves and St. Louis Ambush once again came down to the wire as Thiago Freitas’ goal with 49 seconds left gave Orlando a much needed 8-7 win in Missouri.
Both teams got off to a slow start, but the home side was able to score first on a power-play goal with just under four minutes left in the half. Orlando came back just 30 seconds later and, after a blue card foul in open space, Orlando was awarded a penalty. Gordy Gurson stepped up and converted to tie the game just before the end of the quarter.
Orlando took the lead early in the second quarter as Thiago Freit took on his defender and roofed a shot past the goalkeeper Paulo Nascimento to give the SeaWolves the lead. Unfortunately, it would not last long.
Within two minutes, St. Louis would score two quick goals, one on the power-play, to open up a 3-2 lead as they went to the locker rooms for halftime.
From the start of the second half on, the game became a back and forth affair. Orlando scored twice with goals from Gurson and Freitas to take a 4-3 lead, but two minutes later, St. Louis tied the game up at four.
Mario Alvarez scored four minutes after that to give the SeaWolves the lead again, but the Ambush battled back, four minutes later to tie the game at five.
Frietas scored the final goal of the third quarter, his third of the game, to give Orlando a 6-5 advantage, but barely a minute later at the very beginning of the fourth, St. Louis tied the game up again.
The match came down to the final five minutes as Gordy Gurson notch his hat-trick with just over five minutes to go. St. Louis sent out the sixth attack to work their way back to a draw and just a minute into the advantage they found yet another equalizer, thanks to Stefan St. Louis.
However, it would be the Freitas goal with less than a minute to go that would end up being the advantage Orlando needed. With just seven seconds left and St. Louis trying to find another equalizer, Joshio Sandoval came up with a huge game-saving block to give Orlando the victory.
The SeaWolves will play their next game two weeks from Saturday, on February 16th in Lakeland against the Florida Tropics. Kickoff for that game will be at 7:05 p.m EST.