AMBUSH FALL 8-5 TO UNBEATEN COMETS

St. Charles, MO

The St. Louis Ambush became the latest victim of the indoor soccer juggernaut that is the Missouri Comets when the Comets defeated the Ambush 8-5 Saturday night, January 3 at the Family Arena. The Comets remain undefeated with an 11-0 record while the Ambush are now 3-6.

With eleven games remaining in the 2014-15 regular season, the Ambush are two games behind the Milwaukee Wave and the third of three playoff spots in the Central Division. There is still time for St. Louis to find the right formula to clinch a playoff spot, but they will have to execute better than they did Saturday night if that is to happen.

The Comets went up early on first quarter goals by Kiel Williams and Vahid Assadpour. Manny Forbes answered for St. Louis with a goal at 12:33.

St. Louis drew even (2-2) just 20 seconds into the second quarter on Jeff DiMaria’s goal. Elvir Kafedzic put the Ambush on top 3-2 when a shot by Blake Ordell rebounded off the board and Kafedzic was able to put it into the back of the net. Missouri tied the game on John Sosa’s restart goal at 6:58.

As with many of their other losses, the Ambush played a close first half of the match, only to see their opponents run away with the second half. The contest was tied 3-3 at the end of the first half, but the Comets outscored the Ambush 5-2 in the second half.

Robert Palmer and Andre Braithwaite gave the Comets a two point lead (5-3) on their goals less than two minutes apart in the third quarter. The Ambush closed the gap to 5-4 when a Chad Vandegriffe pass overshot Stefan St. Louis and came off the board at Kory Dowell, who buried it in the net at 5:43. Neither team scored again in the period, which ended with the Comets holding a one point lead.

At 5:07 in the final period, Andre Braithwaite scored his second of the night off a pass from Alain Matingou to increase the Comets’ lead to 6-4. Leo Gibson gave Missouri a three point advantage (7-4) with a tally at 6:40, then earned an assist when he passed to Matingou, who scored at 13:43 to give the Comets at 8-4 lead. Stefan St. Louis scored against his former team at 14:50 but it was too little, too late for the Ambush who suffered the 8-5 loss.

Danny Waltman made 17 saves on 22 opportunities in goal for the Comets on his way to the win. Greg Crook continues to amaze in goal for the Ambush. Crook made 24 saves on 32 chances, but his team didn’t produce the offense to match his stellar work in goal. You can’t score if you don’t shoot and a look at the shot count from the game shows in part why Missouri won. The Comets outshot the Ambush 51-29.

Next up for the Ambush is a three-game road trip. Next Saturday, January 10, the Ambush visit Wichita for the first time to clash with the B-52s at Hartman Arena. The next weekend, the Ambush play road games on back-to-back nights. On Friday, January 16, the Comets host the Ambush at the Independence Events Center, then on Saturday, January 17, the Ambush return to Hartman Arena to again face the B-52s.

The Ambush return home to the Family Arena on Friday, January 23, when they host the Tulsa Revolution at 7:35 p.m. The following night, Saturday, January 24, the Ambush host the B-52s at 7:35 p.m.

For the latest Ambush news, visit 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.