St. Louis blanks Utica for first-ever MASL shutout

St. Charles, MO - After falling at home to the St. Louis Ambush 6-4 on Monday, Utica City FC made the trip to Missouri to kick off a two-game away stretch. In a record game for St. Louis, the Ambush blanked Utica, 13-0. 

Utica City FC saw a few new faces in the lineup. Recent goalkeeper signee Rainer Hauss made his Utica debut, and Wil Nyamsi made his first appearance of the year for Utica. A cagey first quarter saw a multitude of blocks and fouls as the Ambush found a late breakthrough on a set piece. Daniel Torrealba latched onto the end of a free kick and the ball took a deflection off of Robbie Kristo for the first goal of the game at the 12:42 mark in the first. That strike was the lone goal of the first, with the hosts taking a 1-0 lead into the second quarter. 

Utica started the second half on the right foot, as Kyle Genrich fired a back post effort that hit the post and bounced out. Just over 5 minutes into the second, St. Louis doubled the lead as Will Eskay found a late-running Riley Urie at the goal line to tap it home. His goal was the only goal of the second quarter, and the Ambush took a 2-0 lead into halftime. 

The City continued to press in the third, but an unfortunate turn led to another St. Louis strike early on. Robert Williamson lifted a kick in to Kristo, who scuffed his shot but still found a way past Hauss for 3-0 just past the 5 minute mark. The home side added another goal 5 minutes later with a well-worked transition play to John Gates at the back post for a simple tap-in. Gates found another moments later with a well-timed rebound for a 5-0 lead. The home team scored again in the seconds that followed with Randy Martinez on a breakaway with the UCFC defense high up the field. Kristo completed his hat-trick with a power play goal in the final 20 seconds of the third quarter, giving the Ambush a 7-0 lead into the final break. 

Out of the break, Utica continued to struggle in transition, as Mario Falsone sliced through the defense to score just 30 seconds into the quarter. Two minutes later, St. Louis made it 9-0 with Triston Austin at the doorstep. Hauss stuffed a penalty shootout attempt, but the ensuing power play resulted in the second goal of the game for Martinez, giving the Ambush a double-digit lead with 10 minutes to go. In the final three minutes, Urie added another to his total, making the score 11-0. Eskay and Gates added two empty netters for a final score of 13-0 in favor of St. Louis. 

UCFC continues the road trip in Missouri tomorrow against the Kansas City Comets. Kickoff at the Cable Dahmer Arena is at 5:05 PM EST. The next home match is on March 1st, at 3 PM EST against the Milwaukee Wave. Tickets for home matches are available at uticacityfc.com/tickets.

Story by Arnav Pokhrel