The St. Louis Ambush dropped a 6-4 match to the Kansas City Comets Saturday night in Independence. The loss dropped the Ambush top 0-2 on the season, whilce the Comets improved to 1-1.
The Comets took a 2-0 lead in the opening quarter that was marked by two blue cards being assessed against Ambush forward Stefan St. Louis and a yellow card against Ambush defender Axle Duarte. Comets goals came from Matt Lewis and John Sosa.
The Comets outscored the Ambush 3-1 in the second frame, thanks to tallies from Ray Lee, Kiel Williams and Ray Sarri. The lone Ambush goal came from Duduca on a power play when Robert Kelly collected a blue card. Kansas City enjoyed a 5-1 lead at halftime.
The third quarter was unusually quiet, with no cards and no scoring until the closing minutes. Kansas City’s Saari was sent to the box for tripping at 11:03, giving the Ambush a power play that they would make good on when Tony Walls scored at 11:55 to make the score 5-2 heading into the final period.
The Ambush made it a two-goal game (5-3) when Douglas Dos Santos was able to beat Comets goalkeeper Steven Hamersky at 5:59 of the fourth quarter. The Comets answered when player/coach Leo Gibson fired a long shot into the net to give his team a 6-3 lead with just under six minutes remaining in the game. In what may have been the goal of the game, Ambush goalkeeper Paulo placed an upper ninety shot from near the yellow line. With neither team scoring before the final buzzer, the Comets earned a 6-4 win in their home opener.
Each team took 30 shots in the game. Hamersky made 15 saves on 19 attempts in taking the win in goal for the Comets. Paulo saved 17 in 23 attempts in goal for the Ambush. The Ambush collected three blue cards and one yellow while the Comets collected two blue cards.
The Ambush return home to the Family Arena for a four-game home stand, starting with the return of the Milwaukee Wave next Sunday, December 8 at 5:05 p.m. and followed by visits from the Comets on December 15, the Tacoma Stars on December 27, and Comets again on December 31.
