ST. LOUIS AMBUSH FALLS TO CHIHUAHUA SAVAGE IN PLAYOFFS

Oceanside, California (April 4, 2025) – Despite a scrappy effort in a well-played game, the St. Louis Ambush saw their season come to an end when they lost 5-1 to the Chihuahua Savage in the first game of the quarterfinal round of the MASL Ron Newman Cup Playoffs Friday at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California. The final score doesn’t tell the story of a well-played game that saw the score tied until the seventh minute of the final stanza and three of Chihuahua’s goals against the sixth attacker.

In an unusual anomaly for the Major Arena Soccer League, neither team found the back of the net in the first quarter. As rare as a scoreless first period may be for the MASL, a first HALF devoid of goals is even more rare, but that’s exactly what happened. The Ambush and Savage were deadlocked at zero at halftime. There were also no penalties in the first half. No red, blue or yellow cards.

Chihuahua finally broke the ice of a scoreless tie in the ninth minute of the third quarter when Jamie Alejandro Romero was able to get a shot by St. Louis goalkeeper Paulo Nascimento for a 1-0 score. The Ambush answered in the thirteenth minute when Duduca Carvalho sent a backheel pass to James Thomas, who put his shot in the upper rear corner of the goal, to end the third quarter with a 1-1 score.

The Savage regained the lead in the seventh minute of the fourth quarter when a shot came off the glass and Nascimento was unable to get control of the ball, which got loose and found the foot of Hugo Puentes, who tapped it in for a 2-1 lead. With just under three minutes left in the game, the Ambush pulled Nascimento and Dylan Hundelt donned the sixth attacker jersey. Bryan Macias put a dagger in the heart of Ambush fans with a shot that Hundelt couldn’t stop to give the Savage a 3-1 lead. Cesar Ruiz scored an empty netter with 34 seconds left on the clock, followed by Miguel Angel Diaz with 25 seconds remaining, for a 5-1 final score.

Chihuahua now moves on to the semifinal round and St. Louis comes home. Despite a terrible start to the season, the Ambush bounced back with a winning record in the second half and a trip to the playoffs where they gave the two-time defending league champions all they could handle.

Season tickets for the 2025-26 Ambush season are now on sale. 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.