In the second of back-to-back games at the Adirondack Bank Center on Sunday, the St. Louis Ambush and Utica City FC repeated the same score from the day before. In Saturday’s match and Sunday’s contest, Utica prevailed by convincing 11-5 scores. Sunday’s victory improved Utica to 16-6-1 (wins-losses-overtime losses) on the season, while St. Louis drops to 4-12-6.
Utica wasted no time picking up where they left off on Saturday as Keaton Woods scored just 49 seconds into the match. The Ambush drew even in the seventh minute when Utica goalkeeper Brian Wilkin stopped a shot by Zachary Druhe but the ball got loose and found the foot of Christian Briggs, who put the ball in goal. Utica answered 59 seconds later when Franck Tayou outmaneuvered Ambush goalkeeper Joel Barroso and scored with relative ease. Utica went up 4-1 when Tayou struck again in the twelfth minute, followed by Ronaldinho Diniz just under a minute later. St. Louis came alive in the thirteenth minute when Curtis Kirby scored on a ball that came off the wall, making it 4-2.
The second quarter was scoreless until St. Louis came within one goal of Utica, courtesy of Skylar Funk, who scored in the fourteenth minute. At halftime, Utica City FC held a 4-3 lead. St. Louis outshot Utica 14-9 in the first half. In his second MASL game, Barroso made two saves on six attempts (.333 Sv%) in goal for St. Louis, while Wilkin saved eight on 11 attempts for Utica (.727 Sv5). Neither team collected any penalty cards during the first half.
Jose Ogaz replaced Barroso in goal for St. Louis at the start of the third quarter. Utica started pulling away in the period when Tayou completed the hat trick and Cole Stephens scored, to make it a 6-3 game heading into the fourth quarter.
Utica continued to pile on in the final stanza, with Tayou adding his fourth and fifth goals of the match. Between those two tallies, Nilton de Andrade added a goal, then scored again. All of this scoring action took place before eight minutes had elapsed, giving Utica double digits on the scoreboard (10-3). After six Utica goals, St. Louis finally found the back of the net when Skylar Funk made it a brace in the tenth minute, making it a 10-4 game. The visitors inched closer on a restart when Christian Briggs put a shot out of Wilkin’s reach for a 10-5 score. With less than a minute remaining, Tayou scored his sixth goal of the game, giving Utica an 11-5 advantage that would become the final score.
In his 30 minutes in goal, Ogaz made 12 saves on 19 chances (.632 Sv%). In goal for Utica, Wilkin made 15 saves on 20 attempts (.750 Sv%). Utica outshot St. Louis 29-23 in the match. Referees dished out seven cards; all in a wild fourth quarter. Utica collected three cards; two yellow and one blue. The Ambush, clearly feeling the frustration, earned four cards; one yellow and three blue.
The Ambush shut the door on the 2023-24 season when they visit the Dallas Sidekicks on Saturday, March 30.
