The St. Louis Ambush went into Friday night’s game only certain of one thing: they clinched a spot in the MASL Playoffs. They had no idea what seed, who they’d face, or when they’d start playing.

To make matters worse, the top FIVE teams in the MASL standings (including the Ambush) entered Friday separated by just TWO points combined.

Utica City FC took on St. Louis at the Family Arena in the regular season home finale, and the first frame was nearly all theirs. Aside from a late goal in the frame by Mario Falsone, Utica City headed into the second with a 3-1 lead. Paulo Nascimento, arguably one of the MASL’s top goalies and an MVP candidate for the season, struggled to find any rhythm to kick things off between the pipes.

But starting with the second frame, it was all Ambush, and what an “ambush” it was. Falsone notched his second goal of the game, followed by four more unanswered goals, two of which were by Daniel Torrealba and two by Ozzy Santana. But it was truly a team effort all around, as Randy Martinez, John Gates, Colin O’Keefe and Christian Briggs all had assists on the next four goals.

What was originally a 3-1 deficit turned into a 6-3 lead heading into the fourth.

William Eskay had a tremendous breakaway goal of his own early in the fourth frame, to make it six-straight unanswered goals for the St. Louis Ambush, effectively putting the final dagger in Utica City FC. Despite a goal added on by Utica, it was too little, too late.

One final empty net goal for the Ambush by

With the 8-4 victory, the Ambush improved to 13-5-5 on the season while Utica City FC drops to 5-14-4 on the season. St. Louis will finish the regular season when they visit the Empire Strykers Sunday, March 29 at 6:05 p.m. CDT