Ahead of the upcoming playoffs, the St. Louis Ambush acquired goalkeeper Matt Perrella, on loan from the dormant Rochester Lancers. Perrella will be a member of the Ambush through the end of their postseason journey. Per league and team policies, no further details of the transaction were disclosed.
Perrella has three seasons of professional arena soccer experience, having played for the Syracuse Silver Knights (2015-16), Harrisburg Heat (2018-19) and Utica City FC (2019-20), prior to being signed by the Lancers for the 2021 season. The Lancers are among the teams that took the season off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A native of North Brunswick, New Jersey, Perrella also played outdoor soccer with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Bethlehem Steel FC and North Carolina Railhawks. In 14 career MASL games, Perrella posted a 5.94 goals against average and a .675 save percentage.
Perrella will replace goalkeeper Brett Petricek, who was released by the Ambush last month. Ambush General Manager Jeff Locker said, “With the playoffs coming up, we felt better about our chances if we had a backup to (starting goalkeeper) Paulo. Getting an experienced keeper like Matt fills that need.”
The Ambush kick off the postseason when they visit the rival Kansas City Comets in quarterfinal game one on Friday, March 26 at the Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence. The series then shifts to St. Charles, where the Ambush will host the Comets in game two on Sunday, March 28 at 3:05 p.m. CDT. If the series is tied after two games, a 15-minute mini game will be played after game two to decide the series winner.
Tickets for the March 28 game are available at the Family Arena box office and online at ticketmaster.com. All Ambush games can also be viewed online at Facebook Live PPV.
