The St. Louis Ambush lost the first match in their two-game Mexico road trip when the fell 11-5 to the Chihuahua Savage Friday night at the Corner Sport Arena in Chihuahua. The loss drops the Ambush to 4-5-1 on the season. For Chihuahua, the win is their sixth in a row as they improve to 7-0-1.
The first quarter was a seesaw duel that resulted in six total goals. Will Eskay put St. Louis on the board in the second minute of the match. Chihuahua nailed the equalizer exactly four minutes later, courtesy of Bryan Macias. Eskay put the Ambush back in the lead 14 seconds later, then it took the Savage just 25 seconds to knot the score again when Enrique Canez found the back of the net. Edgar Gonzalez regained the lead for the home team in the twelfth minute of the period only to see the visitors tie things up 3-3 when Billy Stimac got a shot passed Chihuahua goalkeeper Ivan Munoz in the thirteenth minute. \Where the first stanza was a scorefest, the second was the exact opposite. Neither team scored and the game remained knotted at halftime.
Chihuahua went on a power play in the fifth minute of the third period when Kyle Swanner was sent to the penalty box for kicking. They made good on the opportunity when Roberto Escalante scored to make it a 4-3 game. Just over two minutes later, the Savage seized a two-goal lead on a goal by Hugo Puentes. It was a lead they would keep firmly in their grasp heading into the fourth quarter.
St. Louis went on a power play when Escalante was sent off for kicking in the second minute of the final period and didn’t squander the chance, as Robert Kristo scored to shave the gap to 5-4. Chihuahua answered less than a minute later when Puentes sent a backheel pass to Alvaro Luevano, who tapped it into the net for a 6-4 lead. The Savage grew the lead to 7-4 when Canez notched his second tally of the contest in the seventh minute of the quarter. At this point in the match, the Savage offense went into overdrive, scoring three more times. Carlos Hernandez scored, the Ambush employed the sixth attacker, Canez completed the hat trick on an empty net followed by another empty-netter by Brandon Gonzalez, leaving an exasperated Ambush squad down 10-4. Stimac scored his second of the night, but Edgar Gonzalez quickly answered for Chihuahua for a final score of 11-5.
Next for the Ambush is their second game on their road trip to Mexico when they battle the Monterrey Flash Sunday, January 29 at 3:35 p.m. CST. Following this weekend’s action, the Ambush visit the Kansas City Comets for the last time in the regular season on Saturday, February 4 at the Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence. The next Ambush home stand will be games on Friday, February 10 and Saturday, February 11. The Milwaukee Wave invade The Family Arena for the February 10 affair, follwed by a visit from the Florida Tropics on February 12. All Ambush games are available for webcast at twitch.com.
Tickets for all Ambush home games are available from the Family Arena box office and ticketmaster.com. For season or group tickets, call the Ambush office at 636-477-6363.
