Despite an improvement in their overall quality of play, the St. Louis Ambush dropped a 5-3 match to the Milwaukee Wave Sunday afternoon at the Family Arena.
Milwaukee posted an early lead in the first quarter, thanks to goals from their dynamic duo, Ian Bennett and Max Ferdinand. Ferdinand scored at 4:35 and Bennett less than two minutes laterat 6:04.
The second period kicked off with the visitors up 2-0 and they wasted no time building on that lead, as Bennett got his second tally of the contest when his shot hit the crossbar and careened down behind the goal line at 1:11. Neither team scored in the quarter, giving the Wave a 3-0 lead at halftime.
St. Louis gained a man advantage when former Ambush forward Andre Hayne was sent to the penalty box for boarding just 19 seconds into the third quarter. The Ambush didn’t squander the opportunity as Ross MacGregor scored at 1:48 to make the score 3-1. St. Louis made it a one goal game (3-2) when Daniel Berko took a pass from Nick Kolarac and shot it into the upper ninety at 9:04.
Milwaukee’s Edder Nelson made it 4-2 when he found the back of the net at 2:55 of the final stanza. The Wave increased their lead to 5-2 when Daniel Chamale scored at 8:34.The Ambush answered on an unassisted tally by Chris Mattingly at 12:57, but it would be too little, too late as the Wave held on for the 5-3 win. The win improved Milwaukee’s record to 9-5 and dropped the Ambush to 1-13.
Head Coach Tony Glavin said, “I thought we did okay today. Obviously we got off to a slow start. To be fair, our guys stayed the course. We had a plan and stuck with it. Second half, the guys were very disciplined. I saw much improvement in the players. We’re competing against a good team and Milwaukee gets credit for the win, but I was impressed our discipline, professionalism and effort.”
MASL Commissioner Josh Schaub was on hand for the game. His impressions: “First off, great arena, great setup. Very impressed with the ownership group. It’s been a rough season on the field, but off the field all the right things are happening to make sure it’s great going forward. The team will be on the upswing under this ownership group.”
Ambush Co-Captain Chris Mattingly said, “Instead of having a bad quarter or a bad game, we had bad minutes. That is progress, but an experienced team like Milwaukee will capitalize on those minutes. We’re making progress, but obviously not where we want to be yet. The slow starts are what put us behind out of the gate and adjusting our tactics from the kickoff could help us to attack the game rather than chase the game.”
Next up, the Ambush will take to the road for two games. On Sunday, January 29, the Ambush and Baltimore Blast square off for the first time this season at 3:05 p.m. CT at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore. The Ambush and the Cedar Rapids Rampage meet for the second time this season when the Ambush visit the US Cellular Center Friday, February 3 at 7:05 p.m. The Ambush are slated to return to the Family Arena to host the Kansas City Comets on Saturday, February 4 at 7:05 p.m.
