EMPIRE STRYKERS STRIKE AGAIN, DEFEAT AMBUSH 7-5

St. Charles, Missouri (January 18, 2025) – The St. Louis Ambush dropped a 7-5 duel to the Empire Strykers Saturday at The Family Arena. The win improved the Strykers to 5-5-0 on the season, while the Ambush dropped to 2-8-0. It was the second victory for Empire over St. Louis as the Strykers also defeated the Ambush Monday on Empire’s home turf.

Empire got on the board first in the fifth minute of the match when an Ambush player inadvertently tapped a ball into the goal why trying to block it. That tally was credited to the shooter, Mounir Alami. St. Louis answered nearly three minutes later when Zachary Druhe caught Strykers goalkeeer Claysson De Lima out of the goal and executed a long shot from between the defensive yellow line and midfield line and it slowly rolled on target.

St. Louis took a 2-1 lead in the eighth minute of the second quarter when Empire goalkeeper Brian Orozco blocked a shot by Raphael Araujo, but the loose ball went high, enable Araujo to head it into the goal. Just over a minute later, William Eskay went on a breakaway while Orozco was near midfield and put the ball in the open goal to make it 3-1. Within four minutes, the Strykers knotted the score on a pair of goals from Andy Reyes.

Empire regained the lead (4-3) in the second minute of the third quarter when Marco Fabian was able to get a shot by St. Louis goalkeeper Paulo Nascimento. In the fourth minute of the period, the Strykers went on a power play when St. Louis’ Wil Nyamsi was sent to the penalty box for holding. The Ambush managed to flip the script as Eskay fought off two Empire players as he worked his way toward the goal and nailed a short-handed tally to tie the game 4-4. With just over a minute left in the third frame, Nascimento was down after making a save, enabling Robert Palmer to find the back of the net and give Empire a 5-4 lead.

Empire made it 6-4 in the fifth minute of the fourth quarter on a controversial play when Marco Fabian scored but the Ambush threw the challenge flag alleging a handball. Although multiple replays in the arena from different angles appeared to confirm the handball, the referee crew saw it differently and upheld the goal. In the eighth minute of the period, the Strykers got their second power play of the contest when the Ambush were blue carded for too many men on the field. St. , successfully killed off the penalty, then Araujo charged out of the penalty box to shoot, hit the wall, then put a foot on the rebound for a goal to make it a one-point game (6-5). With 25 seconds left on the clock, Randy Martinez put a shot out of Nascimento’s reach, sealing the 7-5 victory for the Californians.

Next for the Ambush is a two-game road trip next weekend with two games in two different cities in two days. On Saturday, January 25, the Ambush visit the Baltimore Blast for a 5:00 p.m. CT first kick at the TU Arena in Towson, Maryland. The next day, Sunday January 26, the Ambush tangle with the Harrisburg Heat at 4:05 p.m. CT at the Equine Arena at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The next Ambush home game is slated for Saturday, February 1, when the Heat come to town for a rematch at 6:05 p.m. CT at The Family Arena.

Single-game and group tickets are now on sale for the remainder of the 2024-25 regular season. 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.