The St. Louis Ambush improved to 8-8 on the season when they defeated the Harrisburg Heat 9-6 Saturday night at the Family Arena. Harrisburg dropped to 9-6 on the season.
The Ambush held a 3-2 lead at the end of the opening period, thanks to goals from Stefan St. Louis, Douglas Dos Santos and Ado Jahic. Harrisburg’s goals came from Elton de Oliveira and Tavoy Morgan. St. Louis’ goal was the first short-handed tally of the season for the Ambush. Jahic, a St. Louis native, scored his first in front of the home crowd.
The Ambush increased their lead to two goals (5-3) by halftime thanks to two second quarter tallies from Duduca. Harrisburg’s second quarter goal came when Morgan scored his second of the night on a power play.
Just over a minute into the third period, Dos Santos posted his second goal of the game to make the score 6-3. The Ambush went on a power play when Harrisburg was penalized for too many men on the field at 11:46 of the third frame. The home team made good on the opportunity when Pablo Da Silva buried a long shot in the net with 15 seconds remaining in the power play. The Ambush took a 7-3 lead into final stanza.
The Ambush got another power play opportunity when Dylan Hundelt was sent to the sin bin for tripping at 14:36 of the third quarter. With the power play still in effect at the start of the fourth quarter, Duduca completed the hat trick with his power play goal 24 seconds in to give the Ambush an 8-3 lead. With the sixth attacker in play for Harrisburg, Dominic Francis scored to reduce the lead to 8-4. Just over two minutes later, Jerjer Gibson found the back of the net to shave the lead to 8-5. Francis struck again when his shot came off the dasher board and careened into the net, making the score 8-6. The Ambush would score one more time, when Oitomeia scored an empty netter from the defensive third at 12:05 for a 9-6 final.
Next for the Ambush is a trek across the state when they tangle with the Kansas City Comets Sunday, February 16, 2020 at 7:05 p.m. CST at the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena in Independence. The next Ambush home game is slated for Friday, February 21 when the Ontario Fury visit the Family Arena for a 7:35 p.m. contest.
Single game tickets for the remainder of the 2019-20 season are on sale and can be purchased at the Family Arena box office or at ticketmaster.com. Groups of 10 or more can purchase their discounted tickets by calling the Ambush office at 636-477-6363.
