UTICA CITY SNUFFS OUT AMBUSH

St. Louis, MO. – Utica City scored early and often as they rolled to an 8-5 victory over the St. Louis Ambush Saturday night at The Family Arena. Slavisa Ubiparipovic, Joey Tavernese, and Nate Bourdeau all scored twice. Mohamed Kenawy and Logan Roberts chipped in goals of their own and Andrew Coughlin made eight saves to secure the win.

The two teams spent the majority of the first quarter feeling each other out with not many chances. Roberts put Utica up 1-0 with 4:41 to go in the opening quarter, heading in a beautiful cross from Bo Jelovac. Bourdeau doubled the lead two minutes later, burying a loose ball in front. Ubiparipovic redirected a pass from Jake Schindler to push the lead to 3-0. Justin Stinson got the Ambush on the board late in the quarter to bring the score to 3-1 after 15 minutes.

Bourdeau struck again with five minutes remaining in the second quarter, blasting a shot into the top corner on a fast break. Tavernese chipped in a power play goal with 22 seconds to go in the second quarter to give City a 5-1 lead heading into halftime.

Tavernese struck again six minutes into the third quarter with another power play goal. Ubiparipovic netted his second of the night with five minutes to go in the third quarter, chipping a shot over the goalkeeper.

Kenawy continued the onslaught with a rip into the bottom corner five minutes into the fourth quarter. Hewerton Moreira struck seconds later to bring the score to 8-2. Pepe Junqueira cut the deficit to 8-3 three minutes later. Zach Reget made it 8-4 with a power play goal with 4:12 to play in the fourth quarter. JT Thomas scored late to bring the deficit to 8-5, but it was too little, too late for St. Louis.

Utica returns to action tomorrow with a contest against the Kansas City Comets. Match kicks off at 8:05pm EST. They return to play in front of their home fans on Sunday, January 27 against the Orlando SeaWolves. Tickets can be purchased at www.empirestatetix.com.

Scoring Summary