St. Louis Ambush (2013–)

Last updated
St. Louis Ambush
St. Louis Ambush MASL logo.png
Founded2013
Stadium Family Arena
Capacity9,643
Coordinates 38°44′52″N90°30′34″W / 38.747768°N 90.509443°W / 38.747768; -90.509443
OwnerWill and Shelly Clark, Jeff and Heather Locker
Head CoachJeff Locker
League Major Arena Soccer League
2022-23 6th, Eastern Division
Playoffs: DNQ
Website Club 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]

Contents

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

History

Current Ambush Owners, 2016. Owners2016ambush.jpg
Current Ambush Owners, 2016.
Ambush announcers (left) Matthew Bird, (right) Patrick Kelly, 2019. 04 Announcers 2019.jpg
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 Indoor Professional League (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

YearLeagueReg. SeasonPlayoffsAvg. Attendance
2013–14 MISL 6th, 4–16DNQ5,636
2014–15 MASL 5th, Central, 8–12DNQ6,110
2015–16 MASL 4th, Central, 5–15DNQ5,301
2016–17 MASL 5th, Central, 1–19DNQ2,574
2017–18 MASL 4th, Central, 3–19DNQ2,605
2018–19 MASL 3rd, South Central, 10–14DNQ2,553
2019–20 MASL 7th, Eastern, 9–12DNQ3,096
2020-21 MASL 4th, MASL, 8-7Quarterfinals1,758
2021-22 MASL 3rd, MASL Central, 10-14Quarterfinals2,327
2022-23 MASL 6rd, MASL Eastern, 9-15DNQ2,450
Total67-133 (.335)N/A3,441

Players

Active players

As of July 15, 2023. [11]

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

No.Pos.NationPlayer
3 GK Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  TRI Christian Briggs
4 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Triston Austin
5 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Mike Sharf
6 MF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Wyatt Fowler
10 MF Flag of Brazil.svg  BRA Lucas Almeida
11 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Robert Kristo
12MF/DFFlag of the United States.svg  USA Kyle Swammer
13MF/DFFlag of the United States.svg  USA Curtis Kirby
14 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA William Eskay
15FW/MFFlag of the United States.svg  USA Billy Stimac
16 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Sam Guernsey
17 GK Flag of Brazil.svg  BRA Paulo Nascimento
18 DF Flag of France.svg  FRA Wil Nyamsi
19 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Greg Kranz
20 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG JT Thomas
21 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Anthony Brown
No.Pos.NationPlayer
23 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Marcell Berry
25 MF Flag of the United States.svg  USA John Eberle
26 MF Flag of Japan.svg  JPN Naoto Yamaguchi
27 DF Flag of Brazil.svg  BRA Erik Pereira
31 GK Flag of the United States.svg  USA Mark Baker
33 DF Flag of Brazil.svg  BRA Pepe Junqueira
38 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Antonio Manfut
41 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Brian Bement
49 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Niko Karidis
77 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Zachary Druhe
80 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Richard Schmermund
83 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Dom Alvarado
97 MF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Ado Jahic
99 GK Flag of the United States.svg  USA Jose Ogaz

Inactive players

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

No.Pos.NationPlayer
8 DF Flag of Ireland.svg  IRL Vadim Cojocov
9 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Kevin Ellis
28 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Tim Menzel
No.Pos.NationPlayer
82 GK Flag of Brazil.svg  BRA Rafael Dias
88 FW Flag of Brazil.svg  BRA Duduca Carvalho

Head coaches

Former Ambush head coach Daryl Doran. Ddoran2013a2mbush.jpg
Former Ambush head coach Daryl Doran.
The Family Arena in St. Charles. Familyarenastcharlesmo.jpg
The Family Arena in St. Charles.

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

Family Arena

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.

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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". boxscorenews.com/. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  4. "Baltimore Blast joining with other teams to form new indoor soccer league". 14 April 2014.
  5. https://www.facebook.com/FLTropics/videos/1783778395175144 [ user-generated source ]
  6. "MAJOR ARENA SOCCER LEAGUE EXPANDS TO THE SUNSHINE STATE | Major Arena Soccer League". Archived from the original on 2016-09-02. Retrieved 2016-08-29.
  7. "Ambush Announce Personnel Changes". 18 July 2017.
  8. "Hewerton Named New Head Coach". 29 August 2017.
  9. "Ambush Head Coach Hewerton Moreira to play one more season". 24 May 2018.
  10. https://stlouisambushbrigade.com
  11. "Stats - Major Arena Soccer League".
  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