The St. Louis Ambush, after starting the 2025-2026 season with a lot of new and younger players, started 2-4. Still, the team later started to turn things around, with the team at one point in the season holding the top spot in the league.
The Ambush ended up finishing the season with 42 points and a (13-5-6) record and entering the playoffs as the #4 seed. The Ambush qualified for the second year in a row after last year getting knocked out in the first round of the MASL playoffs.
After playing the #5-seeded Comets in the first game of the playoff series in Kansas City, the Ambush pulled off the upset, getting the 9-4 win, then coming back home to the Family Arena and losing the second game to the Comets 6-5. The series required a tiebreaker, a fifteen-minute mini-game in which the Ambush would become victorious, scoring two crucial goals to help the Ambush advance to the team’s first-ever MASL semi-finals in franchise history.
The Ambush got on the board early after Ryan Kheddo got possession in the Ambush half, taking it down the field, beating Comets’ defenders, and firing a shot across the net, giving the Ambush the 1-0 lead and Kheddo his first-ever playoff goal in his career. Neither team was able to score again in the 1st period.
At the start of the 2nd period, the Comets tied it up in the second minute of the period on a restart from Flores, which led to a pass to a goal from Lesia Thetsane who managed to slip it by the Ambush Goalie Paulo Nascimento and Attacker Riley Urie making it 1-1. A few minutes later, the Comets got a power play in the seventh for the Ambush having too many men on the field. The Ambush was able to kill the penalty alongside a goal-line save from Ambush player Colin O’ Keefe, and in the 12th minute, regained the lead after a restart in the Comets’ defensive zone. Ambush attacker Lucas Almedia sent a ball to James Thomas, who was able to find a quick pass to Christian Briggs, who fired a shot low, beating the Comets’ goalie Nicolau Neto to give the Ambush a 2-1 lead and Briggs the first Playoff goal of his career.
The ambush didn’t hold the lead much longer in the 14th minute; the Comets had a free kick. Flores finds Dom Francis and hits a hard shot that manages to slip under Ambush goalie Nascimento, tying the game at 2-2 right before halftime.
In the 3rd period, the Comets started taking control when, in the third minute, they hit a counterattack, leading Flores on a breakaway, hitting a shot high into the net, beating Paulo Nascimento, giving the Comets a 3-2 lead, the first time the Comets lead the whole series.
A few minutes later, the Comets are moving the ball around the Ambush zone with Chad Vandergriffe moving a ball off the boards to Lucas Sousa, who redirected the pass to Guerrero Pino, firing a low shot of the post into the back of the net, putting the Comets up 4-2. In the 13th minute of the period, a deflected pass of the wall to Lesia Thestane dribbled into his Comets teammate Flores, who fired a low shot from the yellow line, giving the Comets another goal, putting them up 5-2 at the end of the 3rd period.
After four consecutive goals from the Comets, they held the 5-2 lead at the start of the 4th period the Ambush in the 2nd minute of the period were on a counter with Kheddo in a physical battle into the Comets zone beating two defenders found John Gates who manages to send a quick pass across the zone to an open Mario Falsone who puts it away into the corner of the net getting the Ambush one back making the score 5-3.
Then, just two minutes later, Falsone would regain possession and send a hard through ball pass to an open Ambush Captain Will Eskay, who takes down the field, firing a hard on the ground shot, beating Comets’ goalie Neto to the bottom corner, making it a one-goal game at 5-4.
13 seconds later, the Ambush would have another chance after a bad pass from Flores led to Togbah intercepting the pass and taking it, beating the Comets’ keeper, tying the game at 5-5. With the game being even, things began to get chippy between teams, with the whistle being blown a lot through the game, but more than usual in the 4th, as both teams got into it at one point with the Ambush goalie Nascimento and Comets Henry Ramierez having to separate.
In the 12th minute mark of the 4th period, the Comets were at it again, with Comets Rian Marques fighting for possession on the wall against Christian Briggs and Mehrshad Ahmandi, but Marques kept possession and takes to the middle and makes a off the wall pass that missed both a ambush and comets player landing right back to Marques who shot it right into the net giving the Comets the lead once more at 6-5.
The game came down to the final minute; the Ambush pulled their keeper and sent in Eskay as the sixth man on the field. It wasn’t enough, though, as time ran out, and the Comets won game two of the series, the series was now 1-1, which meant this series was going to need a tiebreaker, a 15-minute mini game that would decide both teams’ seasons.
After a short break, both teams made some adjustments as the teams could submit a whole new lineup, and the Ambush made three changes bringing in Daniel Torrealba, Axel Chakounte and Ozzy Santana.
The mini game began with both teams just exchanging possessions until in the seventh minute of the game, the Comets had possession, trying to get up the field, until Ambush Defender Rob Williamson steals the ball and takes it up the field, cut into the middle and found O’Keefe open on the left wing, who took a left-footed shot across the net that was just enough to put the Ambush up 1-0 keeping their playoff dream alive.
A few minutes later, the Ambush were denied a goal that Daniel Torrealba scored after a foul was committed leading up to that goal that would’ve put the Ambush up 2-0, but the Comets didn’t stop their offense either as Nascimento made some incredible diving saves to keep the 1-0 lead for the Ambush.
In the 12th minute of the game, the Ambush would earn a power play as Comets player Marques was sent to the box for making above-the-shoulder contact, and the Ambush would take advantage as in the 14th minute, Daniel Torrealba sends a pass across the field to Jeff Michaud who made a run finding an open Briggs in the right corner who took a touch and fired a shot across the net giving the ambush the insurance goal they needed putting the score at 2-0 Ambush.
The Ambush would hold onto that 2-0 lead as the final buzzer sounded and, for the first time in franchise history since it came back in 2013, has advanced to the semifinals of the Ron Newman MASL Cup.
The St. Louis Ambush will now have to face last year’s MASL champions, #1 San Diego Sockers, in the semifinal round. Game one of the series is set for Friday, April 17, with kickoff at 7:05 p.m. CST at The Family Arena. For more information, visit www.stlambush.com
