HANG ON FOR A 3-4 WIN ON THE ROAD

Ontario, California (December 19, 2025) – The St. Louis Ambush won their second consecutive game when they defeated the Empire Strykers 5-4 at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California Friday night. The victory improved the Ambush to 1-1-0 on the season, while Empire fell to 1-2-0. 

The Ambush faced adversity early in the contest when starting goalkeeper Paulo Nascimento left the game in the third minute after taking a blow to the back of the head in a collision with a Strykers player. Backup keeper Jose Ogaz took his place between the pipes and gave up the first goal of the game to Empire’s Justin Stinson two minutes later. Nascimento would return to action before the end of the first quarter. St. Louis went on a power play when Stinson was sent to the penalty box for tripping in the tenth minute. They made good on the opportunity when William Eskay scored the equalizer. The Strykers got a power play of their own when Randy Martinez was sent off for a reckless tackle. Robert Palmer beat Nascimento to regain the lead (2-1) for the home team with just two second on the clock in the opening period.

The Ambush knotted the score (2-2) in the second minute of the second quarter when a charging Jeff Michaud got his foot on an accurate pass from Daniel Torrealba and put it on target. With no further tallies from either team, the match was deadlocked at halftime.

St. Louis took their first lead of the duel in eighth minute of the third frame when Michaud posted an unassisted goal; his second of the match. The Ambush went up by two in the fourteenth minute on Rob Williamson’s top shelf shot, off a pass from Larsen Rogers, to take a 4-2 lead into the fourth quarter.

In the fifth minute of the final stanza, Nascimento sent a long pass to a running Williamson, who fought off a pesky Empire defender and found the back of the net for his second tally of the night and a 5-2 Ambush lead. The Strykers went on a power play when St. Louis’ Colin O’Keefe was sent to the sin bin for tripping in the eighth minute. In the twelfth minute, with the sixth attacker in play for Empire, Issak Somow took a pass from Robert Palmer and placed a shot out of Nascimento’s reach to shave the lead to 5-3. With the Strykers maintaining possession for the next three minutes, Mounir Alami scored for the home team to make it a one-goal game (5-4) with 17.6 seconds left in regulation. The Ambush managed to kill the clock and secure the win, their second in a row.

Next, the Ambush are back at home in two days when they host the cross-state rival Kansas Comets on Sunday, December 21 at 3:05 p.m. CT at The Family Arena in St. Charles.

Four of the Ambush goals came from defenders, applying pressure on their opponents regardless of which players were on the turf.

Ambush season, group and single-game tickets for the 2025-26 season are now 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.