Ambush Win A Preseason Thriller

St. Charles, MO (October 21, 2017) – The St. Louis Ambush treated their fans to a nail-biter of a victory Saturday night at the Family Arena as they squeezed out a thrilling 8-7 overtime victory over the Cedar Rapids Rampage.

Cedar Rapids struck early, when Gordy Gurson scored the first two goals of the contest within the first three minutes of the match (:58 and 2:15), giving the visitors a 2-0 lead at the end of the opening period.

St. Louis answered when Vadim Cojocov scored a short-handed goal 4:34 of the second quarter. The Rampage took a three-goal lead (4-1) on goals from Taylor Bond (8:12) and Keenan Malicevic (9:19). The Ambush bounced back with consecutive goals from Hewerton (10:36), Nestor Hernandez (13:48) and the equalizer from Cody Costakis at 14:12 to send the teams off for the halftime break with the score 4-4.

The Ambush took a 5-4 lead when Jerjer Gibson found the back of the net at 3:52 of the third period, but Gordy Gurson would knot the score again when he completed the hat trick just seconds later (4:05). Cedar Rapids defender Edwin Rojas earned a two-minute visit to the penalty box for boarding at 4:26, putting the home team on the power play. The Ambush didn’t squander the opportunity as Victor France scored at 5:17. The Rampage closed out the scoring in the quarter on a goal by Mohamed Kenawy to tie the match at 6-6.

St. Louis got an advantage at 7:20 of the final stanza when Cedar Rapids goalkeeper Rainer Hauss was called for tripping, resuling in a shootout and a goal by Victor France. Gurson scored his fourth of the match at 12:37.

A ten-minute overtime period commenced with the scored tied 7-7.Neither team managed to score, sending the game into a shootout period with each team sending three players against the opposing goalkeeper. That resulted in a tie, with each time scoring twice. A sudden death shootout period commenced, with Joao Pepe scoring for the Ambush and nailing down the 8-7 win.

Ambush goalkeeper Casey Clark managed to stop two opposing players from scoring during the shootout, an amazing feat in itself. Going into the shootout period, Clark said he was excited. “I was excited to go into it. My mindset is they are supposed to score and anything I can do to stop that, I’ve done my job.” 

RIGHT: Ambush goalkeeper Casey Clark makes a save on a shot by Osvaldo Rojas.

Head Coach Hewerton liked what he saw from his team. He said he felt the team wasn’t focused enough in the early stages of the contest when they gave up two goals. “The most important thing was that we did not panic. We continued to stick to our game plan and were able to raise the energy level and focus and the game started to come our way,” he said. “I couldn’t be more proud of our guys, how they fought all the time and stepped on the field with the desire to win. Now we have to continue to work hard for the season.”

The Ambush open their 2017-18 schedule on the road when they face the Kansas City Comets on November 4. The Ambush kick off the home portion of the new season when they host the Milwaukee Wave on Saturday, November 11, 2017 at 7:05 p.m. CT at the Family Arena. The 2017-18 season will be the fifth for the franchise, who has called the Family Arena home since 2013. November 11 is also Veterans Day, and the Ambush will recognize our Veterans during the game.

For up to date Ambush news, visit the official website, stlambush.com, the team’s Facebook page and on Twitter and Instagram.