Loss to Florida Give St. Louis Ambush Weekend Split
January 26, 2019 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
St. Louis Ambush News Release
St. Louis Ambush goalkeeper Paulo comes out to challenge the Florida Tropics
(St. Louis Ambush, Credit: Florida Tropics/Christopher Arnold)
Lakeland, FL - The St. Louis Ambush dropped a 9-7 game to the Florida Tropics at the RP Funding Center Saturday night in Lakeland, Florida. The loss dropped the Ambush to 6-7 on the season, while Florida improved to 4-7. The Tropics took a 2-1 lead on the season series against St. Louis with a rematch set for next Friday on the Ambush home turf.
Florida took an early lead with two goals within the first two minutes, courtesy of Phibo Arriaga (1:25) and Ricardo De Queiroz Diegues (1:41). Stefan St. Louis answered for the Ambush at 8:30 to make the score 2-1. Antonio Manfut, traded from the Ambush to the Tropics on January 16, made a good showing against his former team by scoring the next two goals, at 11:36 of the first quarter and 3:32 of the second. Less than a minute later (3:48), Clayton scored for the Ambush to make the score 4-2. Eleven seconds later, Andre Braithwaite answered for Florida. The Tropics went up 6-2 when an unfortunate bounce gave Guilherme Dos Santos a goal. Dos Santos' shot was wide, hit the board, then bounced off the back of Ambush goalkeeper Paulo and into the net. Magui reduced the deficit to 6-3 on a restart when Braithwaite and Max Touloute were arguing a previous play with the referee and not setting up the defensive wall, giving Magui a relatively easy shot at the goal. The Ambush went on a power play with Manfut was sent to the penalty box for contact above the shoulder at 11:39. The visitors would make good on the opportunity when Justin Stinson scored at 12:50 to make the score 6-4. The Ambush would find the back of the net one more time before the first half expired, as Pepe navigated a difficult angle to beat Tropics goalkeeper Hugo Silva at 14:40, reducing Florida's lead to 6-5 at halftime.
The Tropics drew first blood in the second half when Diegues scored at 4:52 of the third quarter. The Ambush answered when Pepe scored his second of the contest at 7:40, sending the game into the final stanza with Florida clutching onto a one-goal lead (7-6). The Ambush knotted the score 7-7 when Zach Reget stole the ball from Silva and put it into the net at 1:13 of the fourth quarter. The Tropics regained the lead (8-7) when Victor Parreiras beat Ambush goalkeeper Paulo with a rocket on a restart with less than six minutes remaining in the match. Florida was awarded a shootout when Paulo took down former teammate Antonio Manfut and Parreiras scored with relative ease at 10:56 to give the Tropics a 9-7 advantage that they would hold until the clock ran out.
The Ambush finished the weekend with a split, defeating the Orlando SeaWolves 7-6 on Friday night, then falling to the Tropics on Saturday night. Both Florida teams will invade the Family Arena next weekend when the Ambush host the Tropics Friday, February 1 at 7:35 p.m. CT, then the SeaWolves Saturday, February 2 at 7:35 p.m. CT.
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.
Images from this story
 St. Louis Ambush control the ball against the Florida Tropics (Florida Tropics/Christopher Arnold) |
 St. Louis Ambush eye the ball against the Florida Tropics (Florida Tropics/Christopher Arnold) |
 St. Louis Ambush take possession against the Florida Tropics (Florida Tropics/Christopher Arnold) |
 St. Louis Ambush battle the Florida Tropics (Florida Tropics/Christopher Arnold) |
 St. Louis Ambush goalkeeper Paulo comes out to challenge the Florida Tropics (Florida Tropics/Christopher Arnold) |
• Discuss this story on the Major Arena Soccer League message board...
Major Arena Soccer League Stories from January 26, 2019
- MetroStars Lose to Milwaukee Wave - Mississauga MetroStars
- Loss to Florida Give St. Louis Ambush Weekend Split - St. Louis Ambush
- Blast Fall to Heat 8-6 - Baltimore Blast
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
