The St. Louis Ambush and Milwaukee Wave battled in a seesaw match Friday night at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. Unfortunately for the Ambush, they came up short at the final buzzer. Milwaukee’s 7-5 win improved their record to 10-4-2 (wins-losses-overtime losses) on the season, while St. Louis slipped to 4-10-3.
St. Louis got on the board first when William Eskay worked his way through three Milwaukee players to beat Wave goalkeeper William Banahene in the ninth minute of the match. The Ambush went up 2-0 with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter when Christian Briggs scored off a pass from John A. Eskay.
Ian Bennett appeared to score for the Wave early in the second quarter, but the Ambush challenged the goal on the basis of a handball on Bennett. Referees conducted a video review and upheld the challenge and the goal was waved off. Milwaukee did get their first official goal in the fourth minute of the period when a shot ricocheted off both posts and found the foot of Salvador Nunez, who executed a high kick into the net. St. Louis’ James Togbah got called for a handball inside the penalty area, resulting in a Milwaukee penalty kick that Bennett completed with success in the sixth minute. The Wave took their first lead of the contest in the thirteenth minute of the second frame on a long shot from between the yellow line and the arc. The first half of the game ended in dramatic fashion when the Wave’s Max Ferdinand put a shot through a loose Ambush defensive wall on a restart to make it a 4-2 game at halftime.
Milwaukee regained a two-goal advantage (5-3) in the twelfth minute of the third quarter when Alex Sanchez charged down the field and passed off to Javier Steinwascher, who was able to put a shout out of reach of Ambush goalkeeper Paulo Nascimento. James Thomas answered for St. Louis in the fourteenth minute, giving the home team a 5-4 lead heading into the final period.
Sanchez struck in the third minute of the fourth quarter with a bomb of a shot from beyond the yellow line and into the net to once again give the Wave a two-goal lead (6-4). The Ambush got one back in the fifth minute when Thomas headed a high shot that appeared to go over the goal line but was headed out by Milwaukee’s Tony Walls. A video review revealed the ball had crossed the line before Walls got his head on it, and the score was 6-5. Bennett struck again for the Wave in the twelfth minute to increase their lead to 7-5. The Ambush played hard in the remaining minutes, but a comeback was not in the books on this night in Milwaukee.
The next Ambush home game is slated for Sunday, February 25, when the two teams go at it again at 2:05 p.m. CT at The Family Arena. Fans will be treated to the popular Mascot Game at halftime, featuring mascots from area sports teams (including Fredbird from the St. Louis Cardinals and Louie from the St. Louis Blues) and businesses. Following the Ambush-Wave game the Ambush will be hosting a First Responders Game to benefit Backstoppers of St. Charles. This game will be two 15-minute halves with a 5-minute halftime.  Following the Backstoppers competition, the St. Louis Ambush 2 hosting the Muskegon Risers in an MASL 2 match following the Ambush-Wave contest. February 25 offers fans a huge night of soccer for one ticket price.
All MASL games are available for viewing via webcast at twitch.tv.
