WEEK 9 TEAM OF THE WEEK, PRESENTED BY FORD

by Pete Richmire

Week 9 featured a pair of games between the St. Louis Ambush and San Diego Sockers at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Missouri. From those games we have a Team of the Week to bring you courtesy of Ford. Here is your Week 9 Team of the Week:

Goalkeeper – Paulo Nascimento, St. Louis Ambush

Nascimento and crew had an incredible weekend defensively, holding the San Diego Sockers to just seven goals over two games while facing 57 shots. Nascimento logged 16 saves in a 4-3 win on Friday, and another 14 in the 6-4 win on Sunday.

Defender – Stefan Mijatovic, St. Louis Ambush

Mijatovic was a big part of the Ambush defense which gave up only three goals against 32 shots on Friday. To go with his three blocks, he also notched an assist in the win. Sunday, he topped the weekend off with the game-winning goal in the fourth quarter.

Defender – Vadim Cojocov, St. Louis Ambush

Cojocov scored half of his team’s goals Friday en route to the 4-3 victory. His first marker erased a 1-0 San Diego lead in the second quarter, and his second gave the home team a 3-2 lead in the third. He added an assist on Sunday to make it a three-point weekend.

Midfielder – Lucas Almeida, St. Louis Ambush

Almeida factored big in St. Louis’ Friday night win. He scored a go-ahead goal in the first half to take a 2-1 lead into halftime. In the third quarter, he assisted on Cojocov’s go-ahead score.

Midfielder – Brandon Escoto, San Diego Sockers

The Ambush defense was solid but could not hold Escoto back. Escoto netted a game-tying goal in the fourth quarter Friday with 11:08 remaining and came up big on Sunday. The Sockers scored four goals in the game and Escoto had three of them. For the second game in a row, Escoto sent home a game-tying goal in the fourth quarter to finish his four-point week.

Forward – J.T. Thomas, St. Louis Ambush

Thomas’ first point of the week came with 37 seconds left to play in the game. He assisted on Patrick Thompson’s game winner to seal the 4-3 win. On Sunday he chipped in with a pair of goals, each of which gave his squad a two-goal advantage in the third quarter.