After scoring the first six goals of the game, the St. Louis Ambush suffered a frustrating 11-9 loss to the Kansas City Comets Saturday night at the Family Arena. The loss dropped the Ambush to 1-11, while the Comets improved to 3-8.
St. Louis wasted no time finding the back of the net as Lucas Almeida took a pass from Hewerton and beat Comets goalkeeper Casey Gasson at 1:12 of the first quarter. Hewerton assisted in the next Ambush goal when he headed the ball into the boards and it rebounded to Clayton “Pedaleira” Matheus, who scored at 3:52. St. Louis would increase the lead to three when Corey Adamson, positioned near the goal mouth, scored off a Jerjer Gibson pass at 4:19. The Ambush gained a power play opportunity at 9:05, when Ignacio Flores was sent to the penalty box for a two-footed tackle, and it was an opportunity they would not squander. Playing with the man advantage, Pablo Da Silva took a pass from Jerjer Gibson and fired it into the net at 9:40. The Ambush struck again when J.T. Thomas, playing in his first-ever game, stole the ball from Gasson and shot it into the empty net at 11:48 to make the score 5-0. Another first-time Ambush goal would follow, as Raphael Nascimento, acquired this week from Florida, scored with an assist from Da Silva. The Comets got on the scoreboard in the last second of the period when Ambush goakeeper Paulo Nascimento came out to make a save and Patrick Kelly was able to score at 14:59 to give St. Louis a 6-1 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
Kansas City got the first tally of the second quarter when Gui Gomes scored at 4:37 to make the score 6-2. At 5:04, Hewerton scored unassisted when he was able to snatch the ball when Gasson attempted to pass downfield. The Comets answered on a restart goal by Carlos Trombini at 5:41. Kansas City got a power play opportunity when Joao Pepe earned a trip to the penalty box for tripping at 6:49. Kiel Williams made the score 7-4 with his power play goal at7:50. The Comets continued to chip away at the Ambush lead when Bryan Perez scored at13:52. At halftime, St. Louis clung to a 7-5 lead.
The second half started when Williams posted his second (:27) and third (2:50) goals of the contest to knot the score. Kansas City took the lead (8-7) one minute later when Perez notched his second of the match. The third period would see one more goal, the equalizer for the Ambush, courtesy of Pedaleira, at 9:37, sending the game into the final quarter tied 8-8.
The Ambush scored the go-ahead goal when Adamson got his second of the night on a corner kick at 8:22. The Comets answered quickly when Williams scored his fourth of night at 9:33 to tie the game again (9-9). The wheels came off the bus for the Ambush, starting with Ross MacGregor passing to Paulo, who wasn’t watching, allowing Williams to easily put it in the goal for his fifth of the night. Not that another goal was necessary, but the Comets drove the nail a bit further into the Ambush coffin when Anthony Grant scored at 14:01 for an 11-9 Comets win.
The next Ambush game will be on the road when they visit the Florida Tropics at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Florida on Friday, January 12 at 6:35 p.m. CT. The next home game will beFriday, January 19 at 7:35 p.m. CT, when the Syracuse Silver Knights visit the Family Arena. The January 19 game will also feature the popular annual mascot game at halftime.
