The St. Louis Ambush pulled off a dramatic 6-5 come-from-behind overtime victory over the Kansas City Comets Sunday afternoon at The Family Arena. The win improved the Ambush to 4-8-3 on the season, while the Comets suffered their seventh consecutive loss and dropped to 7-7-1.
Kansas City got on the board first when Leonardo Acosta sent a long pass to a charging Zach Reget, who pounded a shot into the net in the second minute of the match. The Comets went on a power play when Triston Austin was sent to the penalty box for holding, resulting in a shootout. John Sosa took a shot that came off the boards and drew Ambush goalkeeper Paulo Nascimento out. Sosa got a foot on the rebound and put the ball in the empty net in the fourth minute. St. Louis answered when Skyler Funk found the back of the net in the eighth minute to make it a 2-1 game; numbers that would hold until the end of the first quarter.
Kansas City was awarded another power play when William Eskay was sent to the sin bin for boarding in the seventh minute of the second period. The visitors made good on the opportunity less than a minute later when Ignacio Flores scored for a 3-1 lead. Acosta scored in the fourteenth minute to give the Comets a 4-1 lead at halftime.
The Comets found themselves down by two men when blue cards were given to Christian Anderaos (tripping) and Robert Palmer (hand ball). Richard Schmermund took the penalty kick for St. Louis and scored in the third minute of the third period and the Comets killed off the second power play, resulting in a 4-2 score. St. Louis VcMor Eligwe was blue carded for tripping in the tenth minute, giving Kansas City another power play. Leo Gibson scored, giving the Comets a 5-2 advantage. The Ambush went on a power play in the thirteenth minute and didn’t squander this opportunity as William Eskay scored with 37.2 seconds remaining in the quarter to make it a 5-3 game.
St. Louis inched closer in the second minute of the final stanza when Rafael Araujo sent a pass to William Eskay, who promptly recorded his second goal of the game for a 5-4 score. In the thirteenth minute of the frame, St. Louis got an advantage when Flores was sent off for tripping. The Ambush, however, failed to score. The Ambush drew even (5-5) when Lucas Almeida sent a pass to Eligwe, who was parked near the post and was able to tap in the equalizer. With 28.6 seconds on the clock, Flores was sent to the penalty box for holding, giving St. Louis a power play at a critical juncture in the game. Neither team scored before the buzzer signaled the end of regulation play, sending the game into sudden-death overtime.
At 56 seconds into overtime, Almeida passed to James Thomas, who was able to find his mark with the decisive goal of the game and giving St. Louis the 6-5 winner.
The Ambush are back in action next Saturday, February 10 at 6:05 p.m. CT when they welcome the Tacoma Stars to The Family Arena.
All MASL games are available for viewing via webcast at twitch.tv. Single game, season and group tickets for the 2023-24 season are now on sale. Call the Ambush office at 636-477-6363 for more information. Single game tickets can also be purchased online at ticketmaster.com.
