Saint Louis FC played its first game in another new series Saturday night when it defeated Sacramento Republic FC 0-1 at Bonney Field in Sacramento, California.
Mike Ambersley scored the lone goal of the night after a Sacramento corner kick was cleared and Irvin Herrera pushed the ball over midfield and found an open Ambersley along the near side. Ambersley fired from a sharp angle in the box and with the help of a deflection off Sacramento’s Kiffe, the ball slid past goalkeeper Jakubek to give Saint Louis the lead it would not relinquish.
“We defended corner kicks extremely well tonight.” said Head Coach Dale Schilly. “Irvin held up the ball well and allowed Ambo to get ahead of him which is a key part of developing a counter attack and we got it – great goal.”
Ambersley got the goal, but one would be hard pressed to find anyone more deserving of Man of the Match honors than Patrick McLain after earning a clean sheet in his first appearance with Saint Louis FC. The short term loanee of the Chicago Fire defended 18 shots, four of which were on goal and 11 Republic FC corners.
“It’s good to get Mark rested and whenever you do that, you hope the guy who steps in really does the job.” said Schilly. “I thought Patrick was phenomenal, he did everything we wanted him to do.”
Saint Louis picked up three more yellow cards as James Musa, Richard Dixon and Patrick McLain were all carded.
Saint Louis FC returns to World Wide Technology Soccer Park on Saturday, April 30 when it hosts the Vancouver Whitecaps 2 at 7:30 p.m. central time. Tickets are available online at saintlouisfc.com, by emailing [email protected], or by calling 636.680.0997 and speaking with an Account Executive.
