B-52S BOMB AMBUSH, 14-9

Park City, KS

The St. Louis Ambush and Wichita B-52s played a close game Saturday night until the fourth quarter when St. Louis scoring and defense both disappeared and Wichita scored five consecutive goals. Wichita walked away with a 14-9 victory, much to the delight of the Hartman Arena fans. Wichita improved to 7-6 with the win, while St. Louis drops to 3-9.

Wichita outscored St. Louis in the first quarter with goals by Brady Bryant, Byron Alvarez and two by Matt Clare. The two Ambush goals came from Elvir Kafedzic and Adnan Gabeljic.

Gordy Gurson, acquired from Seattle last week, scored his first goal as a member of the Ambush at 1:22 of the second quarter. The Ambush drew even (4-4) on a goal by Blake Ordell, but the B-52s took back the lead when a shot by Matt Clare hit the cross bar and ricocheted into the back of the net to complete the hat trick. Odaine Sinclair tied things up with a long shot into the corner of the goal at 5:46, but Matt Clare wasn’t content with three goals as he scored from the 45-foot arc at 9:12 to give Wichita a 6-5 that they held until the halftime break.

The Ambush took the lead (7-6) for the first time in the contest when Greg Kranz scored his first two goals of the season, and the first two tallies of the third quarter. Wichita tied things up again on a goal by Alex Moseley and took back the lead when Alvarez got his second of the night with just 53 seconds remaining in the quarter, which expired with Wichita on top 8-7.

At 1:31 of the fourth quarter, Clare scored his fifth of the game, but St. Louis answered quickly when Cody Costakis scored 22 seconds later. St. Louis was only a point behind (9-8) at that point, but things took a turn for the worse when Wichita opened the game up with goals by Bryant, Abel Sebele, Bryant again, Clare’s sixth of the night, and a tally from Carlos Filho. Three of the Wichita goals were empty netters; Sebele’s when Ambush goalkeeper Alan Hagerty brought the ball too far out and lost possession, then the next goals by Bryant and Clare when St. Louis employed the sixth attacker. St. Louis would score one more time, when Adnan Gabeljic found the back of the net at 12:58 to make the final score 14-9 in Wichita’s favor.

This game between divisional and regional rivals saw more than it’s share of chippy play. Officials handed out 18 penalty minutes and 35 fouls in the contest.

The Ambush return to the Family Arena for back-to-back weekend home games next Friday, January 23 and Saturday, January 24. On Friday, the Tulsa Revolution make their first appearance at the Family Arena and on Saturday, Wichita visits the Family Arena for the only time this season. Saturday’s game will also feature an Alumni Game at halftime, featuring stars from the original St. Louis Steamers and St. Louis Storm.

For the latest Ambush news, watch the Ambush official website, stlouisambush.com and the team’s Facebook page, facebook.com/stlouisambush. Group and single game tickets are available for all remaining Ambush home games. Call the Ambush office at 636-477-6363 for more information. Single game tickets can be purchased at the Family Arena box office or online at metrotix.com.