The St. Louis Ambush fell 12-7 to Soles de Sonora Friday night in Sonora, Mexico. The loss dropped the Ambush record to 3-4, while Sonora improved to 3-5.
The Ambush held a 3-2 lead at halftime, thanks to second quarter goals from Tony Walls (2:10) and back-to-back tallies from Duduca (10:42 and 14:15). Sonora’s scoring came from Adrian Miller at 3:25 of the first quarter and Enrique Canez at 2:30 of the second quarter.
Sonora took control of the match early in the second half, scoring three time in just over two minutes. Efrain Martinez scored at the 14 second mark of the third period, followed by Alejandro Leyva 13 seconds later, followed by Canez at 2:10. In short order, the home team turned their halftime deficit into a 5-3 lead. The Ambush answered when Duduca completed the hat trick with a well-placed restart shot at 3:38 of the third quarter. Sonora came right back 16 seconds later when Manuel Aragon made it 6-4 with his goal.
The Ambush went on a power play at 11:49 of the third quarter when Sonora was issued a blue card for illegal substitution. In an interesting strategy, Ambush head coach Hewerton pulled goalkeeper Adrian Porcayo and added a sixth attacker. That move backfired when Canez scored a short-handed goal, to complete his own hat trick, at 13:17 to take his team into the final period with a 7-4 lead.
Walls got his second tally of the contest 15 seconds into the fourth quarter to make the score 7-5. Xavier Barreras scored for Sonora at 3:53 to regain a three-goal lead for the home team (8-5). With the sixth attacker in play for the Ambush, Sonora goalkeeper Alejandro Gallardo threw the ball from his end into the empty Ambush goal to make the score 9-5 at 7:42. Canez got his fourth of the game at 8:18 followed by his fifth at 8:55 to increase Sonora’s lead to 11-5. The Ambush showed signs of life when Duduca netted his fourth of the match at 10:09, then Aragon scored an empty-netter to increase Sonora’s lead to 12-6 at 11:31. Just over a minute later (12:42), Corey Adamson answered for St. Louis to make it 12-7, a score that would hold until the final buzzer.
. The Ambush continue their two-game road swing through Mexico when they visit the Monterrey Flash on Sunday at 5:05 p.m. CST. Following this weekend’s games south of the border, the Ambush will journey to Milwaukee to square off with the Wave, on Sunday, January 12 at 1:07 p.m. CST at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. The next Ambush home game is slated for Friday, January 17, when Utica City FC visits the Family Arena for a 7:35 p.m. CST match.
