ST. LOUIS AMBUSH FALL 7-6 TO HARRISBURG HEAT
Harrisburg, PA – The St. Louis Ambush fell 7-6 to the Harrisburg Heat Friday night at the Equine Arena at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The loss dropped the Ambush to 5-6 on the season, while Harrisburg improved to 2-5.
St. Louis got on the board first when Duduca Carvalho scored the lone goal of the first quarter at 5:12 on a restart off a pass from Pepe Junqueira. Harrisburg went on a power play at 14:37 when St. Louis was called for too many men on the field. With the power play still in effect at the start of the second period, the Heat made good on the opportunity when Malcom Harris scored at 1:21. Harrisburg took a 2-1 lead when Danny DiPrima got a foot on a loose ball near the goal mouth at 3:41. Harrisburg increased the lead to 3-1 when Alejandro Chavez went on a breakaway and was able to beat Ambush goalkeeper Pollo Cortes at 13:13. St. Louis got a man advantage when Harrisburg was blue-carded for tripping at 14:44 of the second quarter. The Ambush made good on the opportunity when Mo Ndiaye sent a pass to JT Thomas, who was in the right spot along the board and was able to tap it in at 14:45 to make it a 3-2 game heading into halftime.
The Ambush struck early in the second half when the Ndiaye-Thomas combo struck again. Pollo threw a long pass to Ndiaye, who centered the ball to Thomas, who tallied his second goal of the match just 32 seconds into the third frame to tie the game at 3-3. Harrisburg regained the lead when Pollo was scrambling to his feet after making a save, but DiPrima was able to get off a fast shot into the net at 5:56. The Ambush answered quickly when Thomas completed the hat trick at 6:26 to make it 4-4. The Heat returned the favor when Michael Cunningham found the back of the net at 7:09 to give Harrisburg a 5- 4 lead. Harrisburg took a two-goal lead when Pollo got little help from the Ambush defense and was drawn out of the goal to make a save with his feet, but the ball careened to Dominic Francis, who put the it away at 10:14. The Heat enjoyed a 6-4 lead at the end of the third quarter.
St. Louis’ William Eskay shaved the lead with a goal at 4:16 of the final stanza. Harrisburg’s Robert Williamson was sent to the penalty box for holding at 8:55, setting the Ambush up for the equalizer (6-6) that would come from Duduca, his second goal of the match, at 9:50. The Heat took a 7-6 lead with 35.4 seconds left in the game when he fired a shot passed Ambush goalkeeper Sway Mazon, who replaced Pollo at the start of the fourth quarter. Harrisburg held on until the final buzzer for the win.
Things won’t get any easier for the Ambush this weekend as they now travel to Florida to face the 9-1 Tropics Sunday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. CST. Following this weekend, the Ambush visit the Milwaukee Wave on February 6 before returning home to The Family Arena to host the Chihuahua Savage on Friday, February 11 at 7:35 p.m. CST.
Tickets for all remaining Ambush home games 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.