The St. Louis Ambush fell 14-6 to the Florida Tropics Sunday afternoon at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Florida. The win improved the Tropics to 18-3 on the season, while the Ambush fell to 9-12.
Florida got on the board first when Jonatan Santos earned a trip to the penalty box for holding former Ambush player Antonio Manfut at 1:54 of the first quarter and Guilherme Dos Santos made good on the power play opportunity a second later. Former Ambush forward Zach Reget put the Tropics up by two when he scored a quick goal less than a minute after Dos Santos. Florida increased the lead to 4-0 on a goal by Lucas Teixeira and Reget’s second, prompting Ambush head coach Hewerton to make the unusual move of rotating the sixth attacker in an out of the match in an effort to generate more offense. Florida’s defense managed to keep the Ambush at bay and held the four goal lead at the end of the first quarter.
Another unusual circumstance occurred in the second quarter, as Florida had two players in the penalty box and the Ambush went with the sixth attacker, giving them a 6-3 man advantage. The Ambush got their first tally of the match when Duduca found the back of the net to make the score 4-1. Just over a minute later, Victor Parreiras scored for Florida and less than a minute after that, JT Thomas scored for the Ambush, with the sixth attacker in play. Neither team scored for the remainder of the period, giving the home team a 5-2 lead at halftime.
The Ambush drew first blood in the second half when Stefan St. Louis was able to beat Florida goalkeeper Hugo Silva with a direct shot at 3:16. Florida answered 14 seconds later when a shot by Ricardo Carvalho eluded Ambush goalkeeper Jason Norsic to make the score 6-3. With the rotating sixth attacker strategy still being employed by the Ambush, Thomas was able to get off a shot out of Silva’s reach to shrink the lead to two (6-4). It would take Florida just 15 seconds to answer as Fernando Machado beat Ambush sixth attacker Jonatan Santos and regain their three-goal lead. Florida grew the lead to four (8-4) when Drew Ruggles scored an empty-netter at 10:35. Reget completed the hat trick with an empty-netter of his own at 11:44. The Tropics took a 9-4 lead into the final stanza.
Florida ran away with the match by scoring the first four goals of the fourth quarter. Carvalho and Ruggles each notched their second goals of the match, while Reget posted his fourth and fifth goals. The Ambush finally answered when Mario Marcos was able to put the ball in the net at 7:53 to make the score 13-5. Ado Jahic helped chip away at the deficit with a goal for the Ambush at 10:10. Machado tallied his second of the game at 13:12 and that would be it as the playoff-bound Tropics nailed down a 14-6 win.
The Ambush return home next weekend for their final two home games of the 2019-20 season. The Milwaukee Wave visit the Family Arena on Friday, March 13 for a 7:35 p.m. CDT affair, followed by the Mesquite Outlaws on Sunday, March 15 at 3:05 p.m. CDT. Single game tickets for the two home games 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.
