The St. Louis Ambush ground out a 4-3 overtime victory over the Baltimore Blast Sunday at The Family Arena. The win improves the Ambush to 2-2-0 on the season, while Baltimore fell to 1-2-0.
St. Louis got on the board first when Marcel Berry scored an unassisted tally in the second minute of the match. It would prove to be the only goal of the first quarter.
Baltimore drew even when Jamie Thomas took a pass from Lucas Roque and put the ball in the upper corner of the goal in the seventh minute of the second period. Late in the quarter, Ambush forward Mike Scharf was sent to the penalty box for holding. Baltimore made good on the power play opportunity when Jonatas Melo scored with less than 30 seconds remaining to give the Blast a 2-1 lead at halftime.
Baltimore was awarded their second power play of the match when Ambush forward Brian Bement playing in his first game, was assessed a blue card for elbowing in the fourth minute of the third quarter. The Ambush successfully killed off the Blast power play and the third frame elapsed without a goal.
The Ambush drew even (2-2) when a Will Eskay shot came off the wall and found the foot of Duduca Carvalho, who promptly buried it in the net in the fourth minute of the fourth quarter. Less than a minute later, Baltimore’s Jamie Thomas was sent to the sin bin for a reckless tackle, giving the Ambush their first power play of the contest. The home team made good on the opportunity in short order, as Stefan Mijatovic found the back of the net just four seconds into the power play, giving St. Louis a 3-2 lead. With the sixth attacker in play for Baltimore, Roque nailed the equalizer in the thirteenth minute for a 3-3 score that held until the end of regulation play, sending the duel into sudden-death overtime.
In the fourth minute of overtime, the Ambush went on a power play when Baltimore’s Thomas earned his second blue card of the night, this time for tripping. Mijatovic, stationed between the arc and the yellow line, took a pass from Duduca and got off a shot that hit the post and then the net for a 4-3 overtime winner.
Ambush goalkeeper Paulo Nascimento made eight saves in 11 opportunities while earning the win, while Baltimore’s William Vanzela saved 14 on 18 chances.
Next for the Ambush is a road trip across the state to tangle with the Kansas City Comets on Saturday, December 17 at 6:05 p.m. CST at the Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence. All Ambush games are available for webcast at twitch.com.
