AMBUSH SHUT OUT UTICA 13-0

St. Charles, Missouri (February 21, 2026) – Thirteen turned out to be a lucky number for the St. Louis Ambush, who posted a rare shutout win by the score of 13-0 over Utica City FC Saturday at The Family Arena. The win improved the Ambush to 10-3-3 on the season, while UCFC dropped to 4-9-3. It also marked the fourth consecutive victory for the surging Ambush.

St. Louis got on the board first in the thirteenth minute of the first quarter on a restart when a shot by Daniel Torrealba came off the boards and was pounded in by Robert Kristo, giving the Ambush a 1-0 lead.

St. Louis went up 2-0 in the sixth minute of the second period when Will Eskay went on a run and sent a pass to Riley Urie, who was parked right in front of the goal mouth and tapped it in with ease. Neither team tickled the net again in the quarter, giving the Ambush a 2-0 shutout at halftime.

In the sixth minute of the third quarter, Rob Williamson went airborne, sending a kick in the direction of Kristo, who got off a shot that UCFC goalkeeper Rainer Hauss blocked but was unable to control long enough to keep it from hitting the back of the goal, giving St. Louis a 3-0 lead. The Ambush made it 4-0 in the tenth minute when Eskay went on a breakaway, sent a pass to Riley Urie, who sent it back across the penalty area to John Gates, who put a shot on target. Three minutes later, Gates caught Hauss out of position and scored his second goal of the contest for a 5-0 St. Louis lead. The home team continued to pile on, with Randy Martinez scoring in the fourteenth minute, followed by Kristo completing the hat trick on a power play with 18 seconds left on the clock. The Ambush enjoyed a 7-0 lead heading into the final frame.

St. Louis would get two more in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, courtesy of Mario Falsone and Triston Austin, making it a 9-0 match. St. Louis got a penalty kick when Utica’s Juan Alava was sent off in the fifth minute for tripping. Torrealba took the kick for the Ambush, but Hauss was able to stop the shot, resulting in a power play. The Ambush made good on the opportunity when Martinez nailed his second of the evening, giving St. Louis a 10-0 lead. St. Louis went on another power play in the ninth minute of the fourth period when UCFC’s Nilton de Andrade earned a trip to the sin bin for contact above the shoulder. With the sixth attacker in play for Utica, Urie scored an empty netter for his second goal of the game, making it 11-0. Just over a minute later, Will Eskay scored an empty netter for a 12-0 score. With one second left on the clock, Gates joined the hat trick club to seal the 13-0 Ambush final.

Following Saturday’s game, the Ambush immediately boarded the team bus to head to Wisconsin, where they will duel the Milwaukee Wave in just a few hours. Sunday’s duel is set for 3:05 p.m. CST at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

Following this weekend’s games, the Ambush will be back at home at The Family Arena for two games against the Baltimore Blast next weekend. First kick on Friday, February 27 is slated for 7:05 p.m. CST, then Sunday’s rematch gets under way at 2:05 p.m. CST.

Ambush group and single-game tickets for the remainder of the 2025-26 season are on sale. 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.