The St. Louis Ambush lost an 8-7 heartbreaker in overtime to Utica City FC Saturday night at The Family Arena. The loss dropped the Ambush to 5-9-1 on the season, while Utica improved to 3-10-0. It marked the fifth straight loss for the Ambush and allowed Utica to bust out of their own eight game skid.
The first quarter belonged to Utica, who took a 2-0 lead on goals by Ben Ramin and Andrew Hoxie. Each team scored in the second period, with Utica goals coming from Joey Tavernese and Juan Alava. Ambush goals came from Robert Kristo and a rocket of a shot from Mohamed Ndiaye. The visitors took a 4-2 lead into the halftime break.
The Ambush shaved away the lead when JT Thomas scored in the fourth minute of the third quarter to make it 4-3. The equalizer for St. Louis came when Marcel Berry took a pass from Kristo and made a long run covering over half the field and was able to beat Utica goalkeeper Andrew Coughlin at 4:40. Utica regained the lead (5-4) 18 seconds later when Tavernese tallied his second of the contest. Thomas was able to take the ball from a Utica player and find the back of the net for an unassisted tally to knot the score once again. In a span of just over two minutes, Kristo scored his second of the match to give the Ambush their first lead, followed by Ndiaye’s second of the game to make it 7-5 Ambush.
Utica staged a comeback in the fourth quarter when Ambush goalkeeper Sway Mazon made a save, but couldn’t hold the ball, which found its way to Lucio Gonzaga, who was able to put the ball by Mazon, who was scrambling back to his feet. Nidaye was given a trip to the penalty box for charging at 12:55, giving Utica a power play late in the final period. It was an opportunity the visitors would capitalize on, as Tavernese scored to tie the game 7-7 with less than a minute remaining. Neither team scored again, sending the affair into overtime.
With a furious scramble involving players of both teams in front of the Ambush goal, the ball went back and forth until Christhian Segura got off a shot that found its mark to put the game away and give Utica an 8-7 win.
Next for the Ambush is a trip to Texas to tangle with the Dallas Sidekicks, Monday February 21, 2022 at 12:30 p.m. CST. The next Ambush home game is Sunday, February 27 when the Sidekicks come to The Family Arena for a 3:05 p.m. CST match.
