Utica City FC Puts Forth Valiant Effort in Loss to St. Louis

Utica City FC Puts Forth Valiant Effort in Loss to St. Louis

In front of another electric crowd at the Adirondack Bank Center, Utica City FC battled from start to finish against the St. Louis Ambush in a hard-fought MASL contest. The Ambush struck first at 4:05 of the opening quarter when Mario Falsone converted on a penalty shootout opportunity to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead. Utica stayed composed, fueled by strong fan support and steady play in front of goalkeeper Brian Wilkin. The equalizer came at 9:38 when Logan Roberts fired a shot from the right corner at nearly an impossible angle, somehow slipping it past the keeper to tie the game 1-1. Wilkin made several key stops late in the frame to keep it even, and the opening quarter closed with the score tied, 1-1.

Utica seized momentum early in the second quarter. Just 1:50 in, Mehrshad Ahmadi finished from an even sharper angle than Roberts’ earlier strike at the opposite end, tucking home a remarkable goal to give UCFC a 2-1 advantage. Only 34 seconds later, at 2:24, Sergio Pinal put on a show, dancing around two defenders, beating them to the top of the box and ripping a shot home to extend the lead to 3-1. St. Louis answered at 4:52 when Daniel Torrealba finished off a pass from Eduardo “Pollo” Cortes to cut the deficit to 3-2. Wilkin stood tall the rest of the half, turning aside quality chances to preserve the one-goal edge, and Utica carried a 3-2 lead into halftime.

The third quarter tightened into a defensive battle as both sides traded pressure. Wilkin was stellar, coming up with multiple point-blank saves to protect the advantage while the Utica faithful continued to drive the energy inside the building. St. Louis eventually found the equalizer at 12:11 when Robert Williamson converted off a feed from Andres Chalbaud, leveling the game at 3-3. Neither side broke through again before the end of the quarter, and the teams entered the final frame deadlocked.

The fourth quarter brought high drama. St. Louis regained the lead at 5:49 when Torrealba netted his second of the night off a pass from Axel Chakounte to make it 4-3. The Ambush added another at 7:19 as Chakounte finished a setup from Christian Briggs, stretching the margin to 5-3. Refusing to back down, Utica responded at 10:33 when Ahmadi blasted a rocket into the top left corner off a pass from Kyle Gehnrich, pulling UCFC within one at 5-4. With Wilkin coming off for a sixth attacker in the closing minutes, Utica pressed for the equalizer, but at 14:14 Colin O’Keefe capitalized on the empty net opportunity off a feed from Chakounte to seal the 6-4 final. Despite the result, Utica City FC delivered a resilient performance, backed by a stellar night from Wilkin in goal and unwavering support from the home crowd that once again made the Adirondack Bank Center one of the toughest environments in the MASL.

Utica’s next home game is March 1st at 3pm. Tickets are still available at ucfctickets.com