St. Louis Ambush (2013–)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the modern day St. Louis Ambush. For the original team, see St. Louis Ambush (1992–2000).
St. Louis Ambush 2013 logo.png
Founded2013
StadiumFamily Arena
Capacity4,500
OwnerWill and Shelly Clark, Jeff and Heather Locker
Head CoachGreg Muhr
LeagueMajor Arena Soccer League
20214th, Overall
Playoffs: Quarterfinals
WebsiteClub website

The St. Louis Ambush is a professional indoor soccer team based in St. Charles, Missouri. They are the second team to use this name. This version of the Ambush play in the Major Arena Soccer League[1] while the original St. Louis Ambush played in the National Professional Soccer League.[2][3]

The current ownership group of the Ambush is Shelly and Will Clark, and Jeff and Heather Locker

History[]

Current Ambush Owners, 2016.
Ambush announcers (left) Matthew Bird, (right) Patrick Kelly, 2019.

The Ambush originally joined the Major Indoor Soccer League in 2013. In their only season as members of the MISL the Ambush posted only four wins while losing sixteen games.

After the 2013–2014 season, the team announced that it was leaving the MISL along with five other teams to join the Major Arena Soccer League.[4]

At a May 3, 2016 press conference in Lakeland, Florida it was announced the Ambush were moving to the newly established IPL with the Baltimore Blast and expansion franchise Florida Tropics SC.[5] However, on August 29, 2016, it was announced that all IPL teams would be joining (or re-joining) the MASL.[6]

The MASL had a 'free agent' period for the first two weeks of May 2017, where any players who were free agents were free to negotiate with any team in the league. The Saint Louis Ambush failed to sign any players during the 'free agent' period, though few players changed teams in the league during this period in May.

On December 14, 2015, Tony Glavin took over as the head coach of the Saint Louis Ambush and served as the head coach for the remainder of the 2015-2016 season. Glavin continued as head coach in the 2016-2017 season and would finish with a 1-19 record. During the off-season a committee was formed to search for a new coach, with the position expected to be filled by the end of August 2017 prior to team tryouts.[7] On August 28, 2017, the St. Louis Ambush named Hewerton Moreira as their player/head coach.[8]

In the 2017–18 season, the first under Hewerton's leadership, the on field woes continued for the Ambush as they finished the season with a record of 3–19. At one point, the team went an entire year without a single win. Nonetheless, Hewerton's contract was extended on April 16, 2018 through the 2019–2020 season where the team ended with a 10-14 record. Hewerton officially retired as a player after the season and now serves as the full time head coach for the team.[9]

In December 2019, Tony Glavin and Dr. Elizabeth Perez sold their interest in the Ambush to St Charles natives, Jeff and Heather Locker and they join Shelly and Will Clark in the ownership of the Ambush.

In the first week of the 2018 off-season the franchise announced that it was bringing back the Ambush Brigade dance team [10] as an "effort to improve game-day entertainment." The Brigade has seen a recent name change and are now known as the Bombshells.

The Ambush finished with a record of 8-7 in the abbreviated 2021 season. This is the first winning record for the Ambush since the team started in 2013. The Ambush finished 4th in the standings, of the 7 teams which played in the 2021 season. Several of the league teams were unable to play due to COVID-19 restrictions in their home cities. The Ambush also made their first playoff appearance since returning to indoor soccer in 2013. The Ambush lost both games of a 2 game series to the Kansas City Comets in March 2021.

Year-by-year[]

Year League Reg. Season Playoffs Attendance
2013–14 MISL 6th, 4–16 DNQ 5,636
2014–15 MASL 5th, Central, 8–12 DNQ 6,110
2015–16 MASL 4th, Central, 5–15 DNQ 5,301
2016–17 MASL 5th, Central, 1–19 DNQ 2,574
2017–18 MASL 4th, Central, 3–19 DNQ 2,605
2018–19 MASL 3rd, South Central, 10–14 DNQ 2,553
2019–20 MASL 7th, Eastern, 9–12 DNQ 3,096
2021 MASL 4th, MASL, 8-7 Quarterfinals 1,758
Total 48–114 (.272) N/A 3,704

Players[]

Active players[]

As of January 22, 2021.[11]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK United States USA
2 FW United States USA Tony Walls
4 United States USA
5 DF United States USA
6 DF France FRA
8 DF Republic of Ireland IRL
10 MF Brazil BRA
11 FW Haiti HAI Max Ferdinand
16 DF United States USA
17 GK Brazil BRA
18 DF United States USA
19 DF United States USA
20 FW England ENG
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 DF Venezuela VEN
22 FW United States USA
23 DF United States USA
24 DF United States USA
31 DF United States USA
33 DF Brazil BRA
40 MF Brazil BRA
49 DF United States USA
70 DF Brazil BRA
80 DF Brazil BRA
88 FW Brazil BRA
95 DF Brazil BRA
97 DF Bosnia and Herzegovina BIH

Inactive players[]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
13 FW United States USA
14 DF Brazil BRA
No. Pos. Nation Player
75 DF Brazil BRA
86 MF Brazil BRA

Head coaches[]

A man in a blazer
Former Ambush head coach Daryl Doran.

Following a 2-4 start to the 21-22 season, Greg Muhr resigned as head coach of the Ambush. The role was filled by co-owner and general manager, Jeff Locker.

Arenas[]

Note: During the 2013–14 season, the Ambush used both the lower bowl and upper deck of the Family Arena. Since 2014, the Ambush have only used the lower bowl for seating fans. The lower bowl of the Family Arena has a capacity of about 5,000 fans. During the 2021 season, the Family Arena hosted home games for the Ambush and some playoff games, with socially distanced seating. The upper deck of the Arena was also opened up for seating for the first time for indoor soccer games since 2014. Extra precautions were taken, such as having all fans travel in one direction on the concourse, to ensure safe distancing, and air flow in the arena was enhanced.

References[]

  1. ^ http://maslsoccer.com/
  2. ^ "Indoor soccer to return to Family Arena in St. Charles". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. June 12, 2013. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  3. ^ "St. Louis Ambush join MISL". http://boxscorenews.com/. Retrieved June 14, 2013. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-04-14/sports/bal-baltimore-blast-joining-with-other-teams-to-form-new-indoor-soccer-league-20140414_1_new-league-misl-baltimore-blast
  5. ^ https://www.facebook.com/FLTropics/videos/1783778395175144
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-09-02. Retrieved 2016-08-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ http://www.stlambush.com/news/ambush-announce-personnel-changes
  8. ^ http://www.stlambush.com/news/hewerton-named-new-head-coach
  9. ^ https://www.ksdk.com/article/sports/ambush-head-coach-hewerton-moreira-to-play-one-more-season/63-557846738
  10. ^ https://stlouisambushbrigade.com
  11. ^ [1]
  12. ^ "Coaching Staff". St. Louis Ambush. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  13. ^ "Coaching Staff". St. Louis Ambush. Retrieved December 14, 2013.

http://www.stlambush.com/stats#/player/133881/bio Nick Kolarac

External links[]

Retrieved from ""