AMBUSH MAKE IT THREE IN A ROW WITH WIN OVER CEDAR RAPIDS

February 20, 2016

St. Charles, MO – The St. Louis Ambush won their third consecutive game when they defeated the Cedar Rapids Rampage 7-4, much to the delight of the 5,234 fans in attendance, Saturday night at the Family Arena. The win improved St. Louis’ record to 5-13, while Cedar Rapids fell to 3-14. The Ambush also took the season series between the two teams, 2-1.

St. Louis got on the board first when Jeff DiMaria scored at 4:24 of the first quarter. The home team went up by two when Andre Hayne shot the ball through the legs of Rampage goalkeeper Joey Kapinos less than a minute later (5:18). Anthony Arico increased the Ambush lead to 3-0 when he scored at 9:05.

Cedar Rapids earned their first tally of the match on Alex Megson’s goal just 43 seconds into the second quarter. Daniel Berko scored two in a row (6:52 and 12:00) to give St. Louis a 5-1 lead that held until the halftime break.

The Rampage closed the gap in the second half when Charles Bales scored at 3:28 and Diego Bobadilla found the back of the net at 4:52. Daniel Berko completed the hat trick at 8:08 for a 6-3 Ambush lead that held until the end of the quarter.

Blake Ordell, a former member of the Ambush, scored on his former team at 5:52 of the final stanza, but it would be the last time the visitors would register a goal. Ross MacGregor went on a breakaway and beat Kapinos at 8:54 for a 7-4 lead that would hold until the final buzzer.

Richard Schmermund proved to be a capable play maker for St. Louis as he registered three assist in the contest. Other Ambush assists came from Lucas Almeida, Piotr Sliwa and Freddy Moojen.

Sliwa made 16 saves on 20 save opportunities in earning his fourth win of the season. Kapinos saved 16 in 23 chances in suffering his thirteenth loss. Officials charged the Ambush with 14 fouls, while the Rampage accumulated eight. Neither team was assessed any penalty minutes.

The Ambush play their final home game of the season when they host the Baltimore Blast next Friday, February 26 at 7:35 p.m. at the Family Arena. In addition to being the final home game, February 26 is also Jamie Swanner Night, as the Ambush pay tribute to the legendary goalkeeper and the team’s current Goalkeeper Coach.

At halftime, Swanner’s number 00 will be retired and a special banner with his number will hang inside the arena. Swanner is only the third player in St. Louis professional soccer history to have his number retired. The first was Slobo Ilijevski’s number 30 in 1994 and the second was Daryl Doran’s number 7 in 2006. The first 5,000 fans in attendance February 26 will receive a free Jamie Swanner poster (left).

Following next Friday’s duel against Baltimore, the Ambush close out the season on the road when they tangle with the Milwaukee Wave Saturday, February 27 at 6:05 p.m. at the UM-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

Individual and group tickets are available for the February 26 home finale. Call the Ambush office at 636-477-6363 for more information. Keep up with Ambush news anytime by visiting the team’s official web site, stlouisambush.com, the Ambush Facebook page, facebook.com/stlouisambush, or on Twitter, twitter.com/stlouisambush.