AMBUSH SCORE 11 IN WIN OVER TULSA

St. Charles, MO

Eight different players scored goals as the St. Louis Ambush defeated the Tulsa Revolution 11-5 Friday night, January 23 at the Family Arena. The 11-goal game is the highest scoring single game for St. Louis this season. The Ambush improved to 4-9 with the win, while the Revolution dropped to 1-11.

Blake Ordell got things started for the Ambush with an unassisted tally at 4:43 of the opening stanza. Less than a minute later (5:13), Clovis Malekani scored the equalizer for Tulsa. At 7:39, Gordy Gurson dished to Cody Costakis, who was in perfect position in front of the goal mouth and Costakis scored the final goal of the period, which ended with the Ambush on top 2-1.

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The first goal of the second quarter came at 4:51 and is the stuff highlight reels are made of. Blake Ordell took a pass from Axel Duarte, brought the ball out of the defensive end, then took a shot from three-quarter field. Ordell’s very long shot sailed over Tulsa goalkeeper Richard Nolasco’s head, was his second goal of the night, and increased the Ambush lead to 3-1. (See this amazing goal now. Video at left.) The quarter would be all Ambush as Ordell’s goal was followed by tallies from Gordy Gurson and Chad Vandegriffe. St. Louis enjoyed a 5-1 lead at the halftime break.

Tulsa closed the gap to 5-2 at 6:37 of the third period on on a goal by Justin Hershey. Elvir Kafedzic answered for St. Louis less than two minutes later (8:04) to increase the Ambush lead to four (6-2). Tulsa would mount a comeback with two goals less than a minute apart. Oscar Rivadavia scored at 11:19 and was quickly followed by Hershey’s second of the night at 11:43 to draw within two (6-4) of the Ambush. St. Louis then got both points back with two goals a minute apart. Corey Adamson scored at 13:00, then exactly one minute later, Richard Schmermund went on a breakaway and beat Nolasco to increase St. Louis’ lead to 8-4.

Odaine Sinclair increased the Ambush lead to 9-4 with his goal at 1:38 of the final quarter. Lucas Alameida scored at 4:10 for the Revolution, but it would be Tulsa’s last one of the contest. The Ambush weren’t finished yet, as Adamson scored his second of the night on a long shot from just inside the yellow line at 10:23 and Kafedzic contributed his second of the game at 12:40 to seal the 11-5 win for St. Louis.

Ambush goalkeeper Kevin Corby made 19 saves in 24 opportunities in his professional debut. Nolasco played the first three quarters in goal for Tulsa, saving 23 in 31 chances. Habib Zaylaa minded the net in the fourth quarter for the Revolution and made five saves in eight save opportunities.

Friday’s game featured the biggest offensive onslaught of the season for St. Louis. In addition to the eight Ambush players mentioned above who scored goals, three players (Adamson, Kafedzic, Ordell) contributed a pair of goals each, and six players had a multi-point game: Adamson (2 goals), Costakis (1 goal, 2 assists), Gurson (1 goal, 1 assist), Kafedzic (2 goals, 1 assist), Ordell (2 goals, 1 assist) and Sinclair (1 goal, 1 assist).

The Ambush are back in action tomorrow night when they square off against the Wichita B-52s at 7:35 p.m. at the Family Arena. It will be the only visit by Wichita to the Family Arena this season.

At halftime Saturday night, St. Louis indoor soccer stars from the past take to the pitch for an alumni game featuring players and coaches from the original Steamers (1979-88) and Storm (1989-92). Those players and coaches include Bob Bozada, Jeff Cacciatore, Pete Collico, Eric Delabar, Daryl Doran, Don Doran, Emil Dragicevic, Don Droege, Mark Frederickson, Ed Gettemeier, Tony Glavin, John Hayes, Larry Hulcer, Chris Kenny, Ty Keough, Mark Mathis, Mark Moser, Dan Muesenfechter, Mike O’Mara, Steve Pecher, Don Popovic, Tim Rooney, John Stremlau, Steve Sullivan, Al Trost, Paul Turin and Tim Walters.

Family Arena doors will open at 5:30 p.m. Saturday and alumni players will sign autographs on the concourse at 6:00.

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 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.