The St. Louis Ambush dropped the first of a two-game series against the Chicago Mustangs when they lost 7-4 Saturday night at the Family Arena.
Chicago found the back of the net early when Edwin Rojas scored just 37 seconds into the contest. The Ambush wasted little time scoring the equalizer, as Vadim Cojocov scored his first professional goal at the 2:05 mark. Carlos Pichardo was called for a hand ball at the goal mouth at 6:39, giving the Ambush a penalty kick. Stefan St. Louis made good on the opportunity, kicking the ball into the upper ninety at 6:40 to give the home team a 2-1 lead. The Mustangs drew even less than a minute later (7:06) on a goal by Oswaldo Rojas. Chicago took the lead (3-2) when Taylor Bond caught Ambush goalkeeper Casey Clark out of the goal and scored easily at 8:02. Neither team scored in the second quarter, giving the Mustangs a 3-2 lead at halftime.
Just over a minute (1:03) into the third quarter, Carlos Contreras scored his first professional goal for the Ambush to even the score at three each. Chicago would regain a two-point lead on consecutive tallies by Ephraim Beard (6:07) and Taylor Bond’s second of the night at 11:22. Time elapsed in the third quarter with the Mustangs enjoying a 5-3 advantage.
The visitors went up by three (6-3) when Francisco Garcia scored 7:50 into the final stanza. Cody Costakis chipped away at the lead when he scored for St. Louis at 8:05 to make the score 6-4. With Kentaro Takada in as the sixth attacker, Bond scored an empty netter at 12:30 to complete the hat trick and give the Mustangs a 7-4 lead that would stick until the final buzzer.
The second half of the series won’t be easy for the Ambush as action shifts to the Mustangs’ home turf Sunday afternoon at 3:05 p.m. at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, IL. Following Sunday’s match against the Mustangs, the Ambush travel to Milwaukee to face the Wave Saturday, December 3 at 7:05 p.m. at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. The Ambush return home when they welcome the expansion Florida Tropics for the first time ever Friday, December 9 at 7:35 p.m. at the Family Arena.
Season, single game and group tickets are available for all remaining home games .For more information, call the Ambush office at 636-477-6363. Keep up to date with Ambush news by visiting the official website, stlambush.com, the team’s Facebook page and on Twitter and Instagram.
