RARE THURSDAY GAME WELL DONE BY THE COMETS

Independence, Missouri (December 28, 2023) – In a rare Thursday night game, the Kansas City Comets came away with a 6-4 win over the St. Louis Ambush at the Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence. A game well done by the Comets improved their season record to 5-1-0 (wins-losses-overtime losses), while the struggling Ambush dropped to 1-4-1.

The Ambush struck first when William Eskay sped into the arc and got off a shot that eluded Comets goalkeeper Nicolau Neto just 21 seconds into the contest. Kansas City wasted no time answering when Leonardo Acosta fired a shot directly at Ambush keeper Paulo Nascimento, who got got a piece of the ball, but not enough to stop it from deflecting into the goal. Acosta’s tally came exactly one minute after Eskay’s. The opening frame elapsed with a 1-1 tie.

In the fifth minute of the second quarter, Ambush defender James Togbah was sent to the penalty box for tripping, resulting in a penalty kick for the Comets. John Sosa made good on the attempt, giving the home team a 2-1 lead. Nascimento was blue-carded for putting a hand on the ball outside the box in the ninth minute of the period. St. Louis head coach Jeff Locker challenged the call, but the video review upheld the call and backup goalkeeper Jose Ogaz came in cold off the bench to face a shootout against the Comets top scorer Zach Reget. Ogaz managed to block Reget’s shot and play continued. Ogaz would make three saves before Wil Nyamsi scored a short-handed goal for St. Louis with eight seconds left on the penalty to knot the score at 2-2. Kansas City regained the lead in the thirteenth minute when a shot by Acosta deflected off St. Louis defender Richard Schmermund’s foot and into the net. A lively first half ended with Kansas City enjoying a 3-2 lead.

The Ambush drew even when Robert Kristo found the back of the net in the fourth minute of the third period. In the eighth minute, Sosa nabbed an errant pass and scored his second of the night to make it a 4-3 Comets lead.

Kansas City took the first two-goal lead (5-3) of the game on Zach Reget’s tally in the sixth minute of the fourth quarter. St. Louis got one back when Eskay recorded his second goal of the game on a shot that deflected off Kansas City’s Ray Lee in the eighth minute. The Comets answered on a restart in the eleventh minute when Sosa completed the hat trick to give the home team a 6-4 lead.

The Comets outshot the Ambush 37-26. Neto stopped 11 out of 15 Ambush shots on goal (.733 Sv%) in earning the win for Kansas City. In goal for St. Louis, Nascimento saved 18 on 23 attempts (.783 Sv%) while Ogaz stopped all three shots faced during his two minutes in goal.

Action shifts to the home turf of the Ambush as the two teams square off again on New Year’s Eve at 2:05 p.m. CT at The Family Arena. The December 31 home game also includes the annual New Year’s Eve Kids’ Bash highlighted by a post-game balloon drop on the field. All games are webcast at twitch.com.

Single game, season and group tickets for the 2023-24 season are now on sale. Call the Ambush office at 636-477-6363 for more information. Single game tickets can also be purchased online at ticketmaster.com. Fans can stay current on all Ambush news by visiting the team’s official website, stambush.com and on social media outlets.