The St. Louis Ambush fell to the Syracuse Silver Knights 7-5 Friday night at the Oncenter War Memorial Arena in Syracuse, New York. The win boosted the Silver Knights’ record to 11-7, while the Ambush fell to 3-17.
Syracuse drew first blood at 8:42 of the first quarter when Slavisa Ubiparipovicsmashed a shot into the corner of the goal opposite where Ambush goalkeeper Paulo was stationed. Domenico Vitale made it 2-0 with his goal at 11:06. The Ambush answered 18 seconds later when Cody Costakis sent a pass to Corey Adamson, who settled the ball, turned and fired it into the back of the net at 11:24. The Silver Knights held a 2-1 lead at the end of the opening period.
The Knights took a 3-1 lead when Patrick Thompson was able to beat Paulo at 2:10 of the second quarter. The lead increased to 4-1 when Joey Tavernese found Liam Callahan wide open and sent him a pass which Callahan put in the net with relative ease at 5:27. The remainder of the second quarter saw no scoring from either team, allowing Syracuse to carry a 4-1 lead into halftime.
If scorekeeping protocol allowed for a player to get a goal and an assist in the same play, the next goal by Ambush player/coach Hewerton could have qualified. Marked close by Ubiparipovic, Hewerton lifted the ball over Ubiparipovic’s head, got himself in position to receive his own pass, and fired it into the net at 4:41 of the third quarter. Hewerton got an assist on the next goal, passing the ball to Vadim Cojocov, who was able to beat Syracuse goalkeeper Andrew Coughlin at 6:55 to trim the Silver Knights’ lead to 4-3. Just when it appeared the momentum was swinging to St. Louis, Nate Bourdeau found the back of the net at 9:31 for the Silver Knights to make the score 5-3. At 13:42, officials called Paulo for handling the ball outside the goalkeeper area, resulting in a shootout for Syracuse. Ubiparipovic made good on the opportunity, scoring at 13:45. The horn sounded for the end of the third period with the home team leading 6-3.
The Ambush chipped away at the lead when Jerjer Gibson scored at 6:17 of the fourth quarter. The Silver Knights went up 7-4 when Joey Tavernese fought off defender Richard Schmermund and got off a good kick that found its mark at 10:59. It would be Schmermund who would get that goal back, when he executed an upper ninety shot into the goal at 11:33 to reduce the deficit to two (7-5). Schmermund’s goal was the last by either team, giving the Silver Knights the win.
The second game in the two-game weekend series between the Ambush and Silver Knights is slated for Sunday, February 18 at 3:05 p.m. CST. Following the weekend series in Syracuse, the Ambush return home to the Family Arena for their final game of the 2017-18 season when they host the Monterrey Flash on Sunday, February 23 at 3:05 p.m. CT.
