PARK CITY, Kan.—The St. Louis Ambush lost in a 14-9 offensive onslaught by the Wichita B-52s Saturday night and extended their losing streak to four games. The loss drops the Ambush to 3-9 and makes Wichita—a team St. Louis will have to catch and pass to make the playoffs—7-6.
The game was tighter than the final score would indicate. The score was tied five times after 0-0, and the lead for either side never exceeded two goals before the fourth quarter.
The B-52s scored 6 goals in the final period including five unanswered. A critical mistake by goalkeeper Alan Hagerty with just under four minutes remaining made the deficit three for the first time and Wichita poured on three more insurance goals for good measure.
B-52s midfielder and leading goal scorer Matt Clare and defender Brady Bryant each notched a hat trick. Clare found the back of the net an obscene six times, the most spectacular of which was an absolute laser, with his off-foot, off a bounce, from 50 feet. Bryant had only five goals before Saturday night. If you count Clare’s epic night as two, the Ambush gave up four hat tricks in two days.
Fans knew they were in for a fast-paced scoring extravaganza fairly early. Two minutes in Bryant got his first goal, but as it would go most of the night the Ambush did not give the fans at the Hartman Center long to celebrate, as Elvir Kafedzic scored the equalizer 10 seconds later. Byron Alvarez scored to give the lead back to the home team and Clare got his first on a power play to open up the game’s first two-goal lead. Adnan Gabeljic scored off a Jeff DiMaria pass to cut the lead back to 3-2. Clare’s second goal of the quarter sent Wichita to period 2 with a 4-2 lead.
Gordy Gurson scored his first goal in an Ambush uniform and league-leading 37th of the year 1:22 into the second quarter. Blake Ordell tied the game at 4-4 off a nice feed from Kafedzic. However, two more Clare goals, with an unassisted Ambush goal by Odaine Sinclair sandwiched in between, gave the B-52s a 6-5 halftime lead.
The third quarter would see the Ambush get their first and only lead of the contest. Greg Kanz scored his first two goals of the season, both assisted by Chad Vandegriffe, to tie and then give St. Louis a 7-6 lead. Wichita answered with their own two goal run with Alex Mosely and Alvarez scoring them giving Witchita the lead for good.
Clare scored his fifth goal opened the scoring in the fourth quarter and pushed the lead back to two, but Cody Costakis made it 9-8 20 seconds later. Bryant volleyed in his second goal, which would prove to be the game winner, extending the lead to two once more.
With five minutes left, Hagerty began getting more aggressive with the ball. While down a man, the Ambush keeper dribbled the ball almost all the way to midfield. Wichita took possession of the ball with the goalie still sprinting back to his line, but the shot from distance was off the mark. The close call did not deter Hagerty though, as a minute later, now at full strength, he turned the ball over once again at midfield, but this time Abel Sebele was able to send it into the empty net from midfield.
Forced to pull the goalie in favor of a sixth attacker, Head Coach Darryl Doran’s gamble to get back in the game only made the score more lopsided. Bryant got his hat trick 30 seconds after Sebele’s goal when he collected a loose ball and all but dribbled it into the net. Clare scored his final goal seven seconds later when the Ambush turned over the ensuing kickoff and Clare took a touch and scored on the empty net to make it 13-8. Carlos Filho finished the B-52s scoring off a 2-on-1 on a pass from Alvarez.
Hagerty got a little revenge with an assist on Gabeljic’s second goal. Gabeljic made a nice move to juke a defender in the box and fire it past the Wichita goalie for the game’s final goal.
The 23 goals scored in Saturday’s game are most of any Ambush game this season. The previous high coming in the Ambush’s 8-7 win over Chicago, their third game of the season. Unfortunately, they also gave up the most goals they have all year. The previous high being a 9 spot they gave up to the Wave in Milwaukee.
Hagerty has not played bad in his short sting in goal. His .689 save percentage through two games slots him in at 11th in the category if he had the qualifying number of games. However, the last two games have made the contributions of Greg Crook and how good he really was for this team shine through. The 3-7 record and 6.70 goals per game allowed look bad, but with his .747 save percentage and the affect his loss had on the defense, it is obvious he is one of the best keepers in the league.
The biggest bright spot from Saturday was the offense showing signs of life. The Ambush offense has been anemic for most of the season. The Gordy Gurson move was made specifically to address that problem. Even when he does not score he is a threat which draws attention away from others. As he continues to gel with the team with more time, it will be interesting to see how much the offense progresses in the final eight games.
The Ambush are back in action Jan. 23 when they host the cellar dwellers of the Central division, the Tulsa Revolution (1-9). The Ambush finish their season series with the B-52s Jan. 24 at the Family Arena. The Ambush are currently four games back of the Milwaukee Wave for third place in the division and the final playoff spot and sit three-and-a half back of Wichita for fourth. Needless to say, St. Louis is going to need to run off a string of wins in they want to play in March. That starts with a win on Friday night.
(Photo Credit: GoLiveSportscast.com)
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