AMBUSH GO COLD AGAINST HEAT

Harrisburg, PA

The St. Louis Ambush gave the Harrisburg Heat their first win of the season Friday night in Harrisburg. For St. Louis, the loss dropped their record to 4-11 while Harrisburg improved to 1-12. The Heat are in the MASL Eastern Division, which plays under the multi-point scoring system where all goals are two points except those shot from beyond the 45-foot arc, which count for three.

Harrisburg went up 4-0 in the first eight minutes of the opening period on goals by Georges NouBossie and Val Teixeira. Richard Schmermund scored a three-pointer for the Ambush at 8:22 and Ross MacGregor scored an unassisted two-pointer at 10:57 to give St. Louis a 5-4 lead. The Heat responded with two-point goals from Tyler Witmer and Jade Mesias to close the first quarter with an 8-5 lead.

The Ambush wasted no time catching up with the home team as Corey Adamson scored a three-pointer just 57 seconds into the second quarter. Less than two minutes later, the Ambush took a 10-8 lead on Blake Ordell’s two-point tally. Witmer scored the equalizer for Harrisburg with his second of the night at 7:05, then came right back and completed the hat trick with another goal at 9:24 to give the home side a 12-10 lead. David Paul scored on a restart in the final minute of the half (14:17) to send the teams into the halftime break tied at 12 each.

Harrisburg broke the tie at 6:13 of the third quarter when Chris Hall took a shot that Ambush goalkeeper Tim Kelly blocked. Kelly didn’t get control of the ball, however, and the ball returned to Hall, who easily buried it in the net. The Ambush had a power play opportunity when Mesias was sent to the box at 7:21 for tripping, but St. Louis squandered the man advantage as Witmer ran by Kelly for the shorthanded goal, his fourth of the contest. Witmer’s fifth goal was a gift from the Ambush. He centered the ball, but it glanced off Corey Adamson’s foot and into the goal to increase Harrisburg’s lead to 18-12. The Ambush would close the gap to 18-16 in the final two minutes of the period on goals by Adnan Gabeljic and Odaine Sinclair.

Harrisburg increased their lead to 20-16 when Kingsley Onwuka scored his first of the match at 4:29 of the final stanza. Witmer, the one-man gang in this match, scored his sixth at 8:55 to increase the Heat lead to 22-16. The Ambush gained another power play opportunity at 10:51 when Dave Cash was sent to the penalty box for pushing. St. Louis then employed the sixth attacker, giving the visitors a two-man advantage. Incredibly, that still was not enough as Bradley Kerstetter took a long shot at the empty net, which gave Harrisburg another three points and a 25-16 lead, which they held until the clock ran out and the Heat were victorious for the first time this season.

The Ambush are back in action tomorrow night when they face the Detroit Waza Flo in Melvindale, Michigan on the last leg of a two-game road trip. Saturday’s match is the second and final meeting between the Ambush and Waza Flo (3-11) this season. The Ambush took the first game 7-6 at the Family Arena on December 13 and are aiming for a sweep of the season series between the two teams.

Following this weekend’s pair of games on the road, the Ambush return home to the Family Arena when they host the Missouri Comets on Friday, February 6 at 7:35 p.m. That night, the current Ambush will honor the players and coaches of the original Ambush and the 2000-06 St. Louis Steamers when former players of both eras will take to the pitch for a halftime alumni game.

Prior to the February 6 clash between the Ambush and Comets, the Ambush will present a celebrity game kicking off at 5:45 p.m.

The first 2,000 fans in attendance February 6 will also receive a free Gordy Gurson poster, courtesy of Mercy, the official medical provider of the St. Louis Ambush.

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 both 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.