ST. LOUIS AMBUSH FALL IN OVERTIME TO KANSAS CITY

Independence, Missouri (March 2, 2024) – Despite a hard-fought effort, the St. Louis Ambush came up short against the Kansas City Comets Saturday night at the Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence. The 8-7 overtime win improved the Comets to 11-6-4 (wins-losses-overtime losses) on the season, while the Ambush fell to 4-10-5.

Scoring came early and from both sides. William Eskay scored for St. Louis just 11 seconds into the match, but two minutes later, Kansas City struck twice ten seconds apart on goals from Leonardo Acosta and Lucas Sousa. The Ambush defense faltered in the twelfth minute of the contest when they left an opening for the Comets’ Ignacio Flores, who was charging toward the goal and got off a point blank shot that St. Louis goalkeeper Paul Nascimento couldn’t do much with. Another apparent Comets goal was waved off after a video challenge from the Ambush confirmed a foul has occurred before the play. The first quarter elapsed with Kansas City enjoying a 3-1 lead.

Kansas city made it 4-1 in the seventh minute of the second quarter when Rian Marques pushed down a St. Louis defender then put a shot on target. Sousa tallied his second of the game, on a restart, in the fourteenth minute. With 16 seconds left on the clock, William Eskay scored his second of the night on a long shot. Zach Reget appeared to score for the Comets as the buzzer sounded the end of the period, but officials ruled the clock had run out. Kansas City challenged the call and after a video review, referees upheld the call and ruled it a no goal. The teams retired to their locker rooms for the halftime break with the Comets leading 5-2.

The third frame was all Ambush with Richard Schmermund scoring on a restart in the tenth minute, John A. Eskay joining brother Will in the scoring club 34 seconds later and Will completing the hat trick in the fourteenth minute to knot the score at 5-5 heading into the final stanza.

The Comets regained the lead (6-5) in the fifth minute of the fourth quarter when DeBray Holliman streaked towards the goal and pounded a shot into the net. St. Louis tied the game again when Triston Austin put a shot over Comets goalkeeper Neto’s shoulder in the sixth minute. With 4:07 left on the clock, John A. Eskay gave St. Louis their first lead (7-6) of the game when he weaved his way around Kansas City’s defense to find the back of the net and score his second goal. The Comets employed the sixth attacker with just under three minutes remaining. With just under two minutes remaining, the Ambush went on a power play when Flores was blue-carded for tripping. The Comets weren’t finished yet, though. With 3.7 seconds left on the clock, Lucas Sousa completed the hat trick with a short-handed goal to stun the Ambush and send the game into a 10-minute sudden death overtime period.

Fifty-seven seconds into overtime, on a restart, Zach Reget put the ball out of Nascimento’s reach to nail a dramatic 8-7 win for the home team and a heartbreaker for the visitors. Overtime has not been kind to the Ambush, as this marks their fifth overtime loss of the season.

Next for St. Louis is a trip to Milwaukee to square off with the Wave on Sunday, March 10 at 1:05 p.m. CT at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. The next Ambush home game is slated for Sunday, March 17 at 2:05 p.m. CT at The Family Arena when the Comets come to town. March 17 is a double-header, with the Ambush 2 hosting the Iowa Raptors in an MASL 2 contest following the Ambush-Wave game. March 17 is also the last chance for fans to see the Ambush at The Family Arena this season as it concludes the home portion of this season’s schedule.

All MASL games are available for viewing via webcast at twitch.tv. Single game and group tickets for the 2023-24 season are now on sale. Call the Ambush office at 636-477-6363 for more information. Single game tickets can also be purchased online at ticketmaster.com. Fans can stay current on all Ambush news by visiting the team’s official website, stambush.com and on social media outlets.