December 28, 2023 – Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) – St. Louis Ambush News Release
Kansas City Comets’ Eduardo Alonso Alejo and Henry Ramirez battle St. Louis Ambush’s Marcel Berry
(St. Louis Ambush, Credit: Kansas City Comets)
Independence, Missouri – 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…