AMBUSH HOST SAN DIEGO IN SEMIFINAL DUEL FRIDAY

Saint Charles, Missouri (April 15, 2026) – The St. Louis Ambush continue their postseason journey when they host the San Diego Sockers on Friday, April 17, 2026 at 7:05 p.m. CDT at The Family Arena.

The Ambush advanced to the semifinal round of the 2026 Major Arena Soccer League Ron Newman Cup Playoffs when they defeated the rival Kansas City Comets in the quarterfinal series on Wednesday, April 8 at The Family Arena. As the number one seed, the Sockers earned a bye and skipped the quarterfinals.

The semifinal round consists of one game on each team’s home turf, followed by a 15-minute knockout game if the series it tied after two games. After Friday’s match, the Sockers will host game two on Sunday, April 19 at 7:00 p.m. CDT at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California.

The winner of the Ambush-Sockers series will advance to the finals, where they will square off with the Milwaukee Wave for the Ron Newman Cup. Milwaukee clinched their spot in the championship series when they triumphed over the Baltimore Blast on Monday, April 13. The winner of the 2026 Ron Newman Cup is now down to three teams; St. Louis, San Diego and Milwaukee.

St. Louis and San Diego met only once during the regular season, on Sunday, March 22 at the Frontwave Arena. The Sockers narrowly escaped with a 5-4 overtime win in that contest.

While both San Diego and St. Louis have talented rosters on both the offensive and defensive ends, the outcome of this series could depend on goalkeeping, as some of the best goalkeeping in the MASL will be on display during this series. San Diego’s Chris Toth appeared in nine regular season games, starting seven. He finished the regular season first in the MASL in goals against average (3.70) and save percentage (.769). San Diego’s Boris Pardo appeared in 17 games, starting 15. He ranked fifth in goals against average (5.62), third in save percentage (.707) and fifth in wins (nine). St. Louis’ Paul Nascimento appeared in 22 games, starting 21. He finished second in goals against average (4.53), save percentage (.723), saves (250) and tied for third in wins (11). In the decisive quarterfinal knockout game against Kansas City, he stopped all seven shots he faced to help the Ambush to a 2-0 victory. St. Louis’ Eduardo “Pollo” Cortes only appeared in four regular season games, starting three, but has stats on par with the aforementioned group. His goals against average was 4.76, his save percentage was .714 and he won two of the three games he started. In the playoffs, he won quarterfinal game one against Kansas City by stopping 22 shots on 26 attempts, for an impressive .846 save percentage.

Ambush playoff tickets are on sale at ticketmaster.com or call the Ambush office at 636-477-6363 for more information. Fans can stay current on all Ambush news by visiting the team’s official website, stlambush.com and on social media outlets.