The St. Louis Ambush lost their second game in as many days when the Baltimore Blast pulled out a 5-4 victory in the final minutes of the game Saturday evening at the SECU Arena in Towson, Maryland.
St. Louis got on the board first when Clayton “Pedaleira” Matheus scored, assisted by Pablo Da Silva, at 2:58 of the first quarter. Baltimore scored the equalizer when Tony Donatelli found the back of the net at 10:02.
The Blast took the lead at 9:17 of the second quarter with some help from Ambush goalkeeper Paulo Nascimento, who received a blue card at 9:00 for tripping, then an additional yellow card for arguing with the official. The Blast capitalized on the power play in short order when Donatelli fired a rocket over Paulo to give Baltimore a 2-1 lead. The Ambush drew even when Da Silva and Pedaleira reversed roles from the first quarter and Da Silva scored, assisted by Pedaleira, at 12:42. At halftime, the score remained tied 2-2.
The second half remained scoreless until 9:30 of the third quarter, when Corey Adamson fired a shot that ricocheted off a Blast player and into the net to give the Ambush a 3-2 lead. Adamson’s tally would be the lone one in the period and the Ambush took a one-goal lead into the final stanza.
Both teams scored within the first minute of the fourth quarter. Pedaleira scored off a pass from Hewerton at the 13 second mark to give the Ambush a 4-2 lead, but the Blast answered seconds later when Lucas Roque scored at :42 to narrow St. Louis’ lead to a goal (4-3). Roque struck again when he tied the game (4-4), scoring near the goal mouth at 10:04. Baltimore took the lead (5-4) when Jonatas Melow stole the ball from Joao Pepe, then passed it to Jamie Thomas, who scored with just over two minutes remaining (13:09) in the game.
The loss dropped the Ambush to 0-6 on the season, while Baltimore improved to 4-1. William Vanzela made 14 saves on 18 attempts (.778 save percentage) in earning his fourth win, while Paulo made 12 saves in 17 chances (.706) in taking the loss for the Ambush.
The Ambush return home to the Family Arena to host the Milwaukee Wave on Friday, December 8 at 7:35 p.m. CT.
