ST CHARLES, Mo. — The Orlando SeaWolves slipped by the St. Louis Ambush 7-6 Saturday night at the Family Arena. In a game that was tied seven different times, either team could have pulled off a win. In this game, on this night, that team was the Orlando SeaWolves. The win improved their record to 4-5, while the Ambush dropped to 7-8.
The match remained scoreless until the last two minutes of the opening stanza. The Ambush got on the board first when JT Thomas scored at 13:51. Ambush defender Rob Acosta earned a trip to the penalty box for tripping at 14:18 and officials awarded a shootout to Orlando. Gordy Gurson took the shootout and scored at 14:20 to knot the score at one as the period ended.
Orlando took a 2-1 lead at 4:58 of the second frame when Thiago Freitas placed a high shot just out of reach of Ambush goalkeeper Paulo. Freitas was sent to the sin bin for holding at 8:03, giving the Ambush a power play opportunity. The Ambush drew even when Magui scored, assisted by Justin Stinson, at 10:06. The Ambush went on another power play when Orlando’s Luiz Mota was sent to the box for kicking at 10:21, an opportunity they would make good on when Corey Adamson found the back of the net off a pass from Magui to give the Ambush a 3-2 lead that held until halftime.
Orlando took the field for the second half and promptly tied the match, then took the lead within the first five minutes of the third quarter. Gordy Gurson scored at 3:14, followed by Freitas at 4:19, to give the visitors a 4-3 lead. The Ambush answered when Stefan St. Louis sent a pass across the goal mouth to Pepe, who tapped it into the net at 4:19 to make the score 4-4. The SeaWolves were awarded a power play when Justin Stinson was sent to the penalty box for a two-footed tackle. The visitors would not squander the opportunity as Mario Alvarez scored at 9:42 to give Orlando a 5-4 lead. The back and forth continued when Magui scored the equalizer for the Ambush, assisted by Clayton, at 13:44. Freitas beat Paulo with a shot in the closing seconds of the period (14:54) to give Orlando a 6-5 lead heading into the final period.
The Ambush wasted no time tying the match again as Lucas Almeida scored at the 56 second mark of the fourth quarter, assisted by Magui. Orlando regained the lead (7-6) when Gordy Gurson was left open and scored with relative ease at 9:28. The home team wasn’t finished yet, as they scored when Magui sent a pass to Stefan St. Louis, who put it in the net with a sliding kick at 11:50 to tie the game again (7-7). Orlando would take the lead again when the Ambush defense faltered, leaving Freitas with ample space to get off a good shot at 14:11. Time wasn’t on the side of the home team in this duel and the final buzzer signaled an 8-7 win for the SeaWolves.
Next up for the Ambush is a battle with another division rival, the Kansas City Comets, next Saturday, February 9 at 7:05 p.m. CT at the Family Arena. For fans unable to catch the game in person, all MASL games are webcast live at masl.tv.
Group and single game tickets are on sale for all Ambush home games. For more information, call the Ambush office at 636-477-6363. Keep up to date on all Ambush news by following the official website, stlambush.com and on Facebook and Twitter.
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