Playing with a decimated roster, the St. Louis Ambush fell 10-4 to the Ontario Fury Saturday night at Axius Field at the Family Arena. The loss dropped the Ambush to 4-5 on the season while Ontario improved to 2-0. With 12 players either injured, sick or quarantined, the Ambush had only 14 players available as they took the field less than 24 hours after a tough 5-4 loss to the same Ontario team.
Ontario got on the board within the first half minute of the game, thanks to their leading scorer Franck Tayou. St. Louis answered when Vadim Cojocov went on a long run with the ball and got off a good angle shot just over four minutes later. Tayou struck again late in the first period and former Ambush player Justin Stinson outmaneuvered Ambush goalkeeper Brett Petricek to make the score 3-1 with just under two minutes remaining in the period.
The Ambush chipped away at the lead when Corey Adamson got off a shot, from a difficult angle along the boards, to make the score 3-2 in the tenth minute of the second frame. Adamson scored from a similar angle the night before. The score remained the same until the halftime break.
If there is such a thing as the luck of the threes, it struck next. At three minutes into the third quarter, JT Thomas scored on a restart off a pass from Magui Souza, to make the score three to three. Just over three minutes later, Jorge Deleon exhibited some crafty footwork before beating Petricek to retake the lead for Ontario (4-3).
The Ambush drew even three minutes into the third quarter, when JT Thomas scored on a restart, off a pass from Magui Souza. The Fury made it 5-3 when Nestor Hernandez drew Petricek out of the goal before passing to Juan Carlos Gonzalez, who was waiting near the post and who scored in the eighth minute of the third period. The visitors increased their lead to 6-3 with a restart goal from Deleon, his second of the match. Ontario continued piling on when three players converged on goal against one Ambush defender and it would be Stinson who scored with just under two minutes left in the quarter, to make the score 7-3.
With the sixth attacker in play for the Ambush, Franck Tayou completed the hat trick with an empty netter to make it an 8-3 game just over eight minutes into the final stanza. The Ambush would get one back when Magui Souza took a shot that went high and came off the glass above the goal and Adamson executed a bicycle kick for his second tally of the night. Maicon De Abreu found the back of the net in the eleventh minute to increase Ontario’s lead to 9-4. Gonzalez tapped in an empty netter before the final buzzer for a final score of 10-4.
Next for the Ambush is a trip to Independence to square off with the Kansas City Comets on Friday, February 12 at 7:00 p.m. CST at the Cable Dahmer Arena. The next home stand for the Ambush is a two-game series against the San Diego Sockers on Friday, February 26 at 7:35 p.m. CST and Sunday, February 28 at 3:05 p.m. CST at the Axius Field at the Family Arena. Tickets for upcoming home games are available at the Family Arena box office or online at ticketmaster.com. All Ambush games can also be viewed online at Facebook Live PPV.
