Ambush Outlast Stars 8–5 in High-Scoring Home Win
- Jonathan Turner
- 7 hours ago
- 2 min read
Wave Hold Off Late Surge, Defeat Utica City FC 7–6 on the Road
St. Charles, Missouri (February 7, 2026) – The St. Louis Ambush earned an 8–5 victory over the Tacoma Stars on Saturday night at The Family Arena, improving to 7-3-3 on the season while Tacoma slipped to 7-5-1.
St. Louis struck first early in the opening quarter. On a restart in the second minute, Christian Briggs fired a shot that was blocked by Tacoma goalkeeper Luis Birrueta, but the rebound found William Eskay, who finished to give the Ambush a 1–0 lead. The goal stood as the only tally of the first quarter.
The Ambush doubled their advantage in the sixth minute of the second quarter when Andres Chalbaud took a feed from Mario Falsone and slipped the ball past Birrueta for a 2–0 lead. Tacoma responded late in the half, as Douglas Lima scored with ten seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 2–1 at halftime.
St. Louis regained momentum early in the third quarter. Jeff Michaud set up Daniel Torrealba on a restart, and Torrealba buried a shot into the upper corner to make it 3–1. Tacoma answered a minute later when Khai Brisco beat Ambush goalkeeper Paulo Nascimento. Eskay restored the two-goal cushion in the sixth minute, scoring his second goal of the night off an assist from Robert Williamson to make it 4–2.
The teams traded goals just 19 seconds apart later in the quarter, with Yahir Romero scoring for Tacoma and Falsone responding for St. Louis. Brisco added his second goal of the game in the 14th minute, pulling Tacoma within one at 5–4 heading into the fourth quarter.
Tacoma tied the match at 5–5 in the third minute of the final quarter when Jamael Cox finished after drawing Nascimento off his line. The turning point came in the eighth minute when the Stars were assessed two blue cards, including one to Birrueta. Rookie Ozzy Santana, making his Ambush debut, converted the ensuing penalty kick for his first MASL goal, giving St. Louis a 6–5 lead.
With under five minutes remaining, Tacoma went to a sixth attacker. St. Louis capitalized as Eskay assisted Briggs for a goal that pushed the lead to 7–5. John Gates sealed the win with an empty-net goal in the final 19 seconds, securing the 8–5 result.
The Ambush next travel to Maryland to face the Baltimore Blast on Saturday, February 14, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. CST at SECU Arena in Towson. St. Louis returns home on Saturday, February 21, 2026, at 5:05 p.m. CST when Utica City FC visits The Family Arena.
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