Despite a see-saw battle for most of the game, the Milwaukee Wave prevailed in a strong fourth quarter to defeat the St. Louis Ambush 7-5 Sunday afternoon at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena in Milwaukee. The win improved the Wave to 14-3 on the season, while the Ambush dropped to 2-14.
Milwaukee scored first when Ambush goalkeeper Paulo came out a little too far, giving Ricardinho Sobreira a relatively easy shot into the back of the net at 5:35 of the opening period. The Ambush answered when Wave goalkeeper Josh Lemos stopped a shot by Dylan Hundelt, but the ball bounced off Lemos’ chest and JT Thomas was able to get a foot on the rebound at fire it into the goal at 8:17. The Ambush took a 2-1 lead when Danny Berko took a shot, which Lemos blocked with his foot, causing the ball to rebound high. Cody Costakis charged in and got off a good shot for a goal at 11:52.
The Wave knotted the score 43 seconds into the second quarter when Ian Bennett beat Paulo. With neither team scoring in the period, the first half expired with the scored 2-2.
Bennett practiced his craft again early in the second half when he placed a shot beyond Paulo’s reach 22 seconds into the third quarter to give Milwaukee a 3-2 leave. The Ambush scored the equalizer when a shot by Jerjer Gibson rebounded off the glass right to Lucas Almeida, who was able to take the rebound and put it in the net at 2:35. The Wave regained the lead (4-3) when Guilherme Veiga headed the ball to Drew Ruggles, who headed it into the goal at 9:57.
Almeida got his second of the contest with an upper ninety shot at 3:29 of the final period to tie the score 4-4. The Ambush gained a power play opportunity when Hans Denissen was sent to the penalty box for holding at 5:37 and it was a chance the visitors wouldn’t squander, as Corey Adamson scored a power play goal at 7:31 to give the Ambush a 5-4 lead. The Wave answered less than a minute later (8:10) when Angel Curiel scored to tie the game 5-5. Milwaukee took a 6-5 lead after Ambush defender Axel Duarte was sent to the penalty box for a handball inside the box and officials awarded the Wave with a penalty kick. Bennett scored easily at 11:19. Bennet would strike again, scoring his fourth of the game in the empty net when the Ambush employed the sixth attacker, to nail down the 7-5 win at 14:58.
In goal for Milwaukee, Josh Lemos made 10 saves in 15 attempts (.667 save percentage) on his way to his league-leading thirteenth win. Despite the loss, Ambush goalkeeper Paulo turned in a solid performance, saving 13 in 18 attempts (.722 save percentage).
Next up for the Ambush is a return home to the Family Arena on Saturday, February 3, when they host the Kansas City Comets at 7:05 p.m. CT.
