Ambush Drop Season Opener On The Road

by Jim Fossell

Independence, MO (November 13, 2016) – The St. Louis Ambush opened their 2016-17 season with an 8-3 loss on the road against the rival Kansas City Comets in Independence Sunday night.

Kansas City goalkeeper Stephen Patterson put the Comets on the board first when he took a pass from John Sosa and dribbled it beyond the halfway line before firing a rocket into the back of the net at 8:53 of the opening stanza. It would be the lone tally of the period, which ended with the home team up 1-0.

The Comets wasted no time increasing their lead in the second quarter, when Guerrero Pino posted an unassisted tally at 1:59. The Comets increased their lead to three when Ramone Palmer scored at 5:29, assisted by Alaine Matingou. The Ambush got on the board at 6:14 when Stefan St. Louis scored against his former team, assisted by Ian Garrett. Kansas City closed out the first half with a 4-1 lead, thanks to Vahid Assadpour’s goal, assisted by Bryan Perez, at 13:04.

The Ambush would close the scoring gap in the third quarter, thanks to two goals by Richard Schmermund. His first came at 6:49, assisted by Victor France. Perez answered for the Comets at 8:01, assisted by Leo Gibson. Schermund got his second of the contest at 10:10, assisted by Kentaro Takada. The third period ended with Kansas City enjoying a 5-3 lead.

RIGHT:Richard Schmermund (#11) fires a shot at Comets goalkeeper Stephen Patterson Sunday, November 13 at the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena in Independence, Missouri. The shot found the back of the net, one of two goals for Schmermund in the quarter.

The Comets owned the fourth quarter as the Ambush offense went dormant. Goals by Lucas Rodriguez (1:55, assisted by Gibson), Brian Harris (5:23, assisted by Sosa) and Robert Palmer (11:56, assisted by Gibson) slammed the door on the visitors and clenched the 8-3 win for the Comets.

In addition to his goal, Patterson registered eight saves on 11 save attempts in goal for the Comets. Appearing in his first game for the Ambush, rookie goalkeeper Nikola Marojevic saved 15 on 25 attempts.

The Ambush are back in action next Saturday, November 19, when they host the Tacoma Stars in the Family Arena home opener at 7:05 p.m. Single, group and season tickets are available for all ten home games at the Family Arena. For more information, call the Ambush office at 636-477-6363. Keep up to date with Ambush news by visiting the official website, stlambush.com, the team’s Facebook page and on Twitter. 

HOME PAGE PHOTO:Kansas City goalkeeper Stephen Patterson is congratulated by teammates after scoring the first goal of the match against the St. Louis Ambush Sunday, November 13, 2016 at the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena in Independence, Missouri.