AMBUSH GET TRUMPED ON PRESIDENTS’ DAY

Allen, Texas (February 21, 2022) – The St. Louis Ambush lost 11-6 to the Dallas Sidekicks in a Presidents’ Day matinee match Monday at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center. The loss is the sixth straight for the Ambush, who remain in last place in the Central Division with a 5-9-2 record, while Dallas solidified their grip on second place in the division with an 8-7-0 record.

The first quarter belonged to Dallas, who took a 2-0 lead on goals by Gustavo Piedra and Luiz Morales. The home team went up 3-0 on a second period goals by Cameron Brown with a rare goalkeeper assist going to Juan Gamboa. Jamie Lovegrove scored a minute later to make it a 4-0 game for the Sidekicks. The Ambush went on a power play when Dallas’ Stephen Gonzales was sent to the penalty box for holding and Mohamed Ndiaye took a shot that went wide, but he was able to follow his own rebound and put it in the net to make it 4-1 with less than four minutes remaining in the first half.

St. Louis posted the first goal of the second half on another power play. Dallas’ Axel Chakounte earned a trip to the sin bin at 4:43 of the third quarter for a reckless tackle. Ndiaye scored 35 seconds later to shave the deficit to 4-2. The Ambush got another one when JT Thomas got off a shot that went into the net at an angle that beat Gamboa. The equalizer for St. Louis came when Ndiaye completed the hat trick at the goal mouth in the ninth minute of the period to make it a 4-4 match. Dallas regained the lead (5-4) when Cody Ellis took a shot that came off the board and found the foot of a charging Sebastian Mendez. Just over a minute later, the Sidekicks used the boards again on a shot by Jamie Lovegrove that rebounded to Bradlee Baladez to make it 6-4. Dallas went up 7-4 when a shot by Mike Jones nutmegged Ambush goalkeeper Sway Mazon with just over a minute remaining in the third frame.

The Ambush got another power play opportunity in the second minute of the final stanza but Dallas turned the tables on the visitors when Julio Varela notched a short-handed goal to increase the lead to 8-4. St. Louis was able to get a goal before the power play when JT Thomas scored at just over the two minute mark. Dallas got one back less than a minute later when Baladez caught Mazon way out of the goal and put the ball in the empty net to make it a 9-5 Sidekicks lead. Piedra and Jones would each get their second tally of the afternoon to increase the Sidekicks lead to 11-5. The Ambush got one back when Pepe Junqueira was able to beat Gamboa with 34 seconds left in the contest for an 11-6 final score.

St. Louis outshot Dallas 27-15 but the combination of an effective Sidekicks defense and goalkeepr Gamboa stopping 12 shots on 17 opportunities stymied the Ambush scoring chances. Mazon made four saves on 15 save opportunities in goal for St. Louis.

The Ambush and Sidekicks square off in a rematch next Sunday, February 27 at 3:05 p.m. CST at The Family Arena in St. Charles.

Tickets for all remaining Ambush home games are available at the Family Arena box office and at ticketmaster.com. Fans can stay current on all Ambush news by visiting the team’s official website, stlambush.com and on social media outlets.