Oh, trivia time....when was the last time a Daryl Doran-coached team had a >.500 record? Nineteen ninety nine. Obviously, he didn't coach for eight years in the middle, but after losing in the 1999 NPSL Finals with the first Ambush, he went 9-15 with the Steamers II in 2000, 11-13 with them in 2001, 14-22 with them in 2003-04 and 20-20 with them in 2004-05. And the last two years with the Ambush II have not gone well. With his pro coaching career surely all but over now, his career record is 232-202 in the regular season and 38-29 in the playoffs for 270 total career victories. That's seventh all-time in the game's history, 94 more than current active leader Danny Kelly. (The other six are Tozer, Cooper, Newman, Liekoski, Jago and Popovic.)
The Ambush had a booster club meeting last night, with the Haines family & some players in attendance. Haines explained that Doran had more than enough time to improve. There was some improvement last season, and the Ambush signed even more talent that Doran wanted. He gave advance warning to Doran & assistant coach Smugala that wins were needed this season - after the loss to Tacoma (Ambush twice blew 2 goal leads & lost in overtime), the decision was made the next morning to fire Doran & the assistant. Tony Glavin was contacted, met with Haines, & was offered the job. Of course Haines gave the bad news to Doran & Smugala that same day. Haines said that players have to play better & avoid mistakes too. He was not chosen ahead of time. Glavin & Haines had known each other for several years. It was explained that it was not a snap decision. The players are frustrated with the losing (especially the 4 close losses) but all of us are optimistic that Glavin can bring better strategies & direction to our team. Clearly the Ambush are way better than their record shows. We have the talent to score more & not collapse in the 4th quarter. Appreciation was expressed for the hard work that Doran did, including sponsor growth. Hopefully the wins will come soon.
Jamie Swanner named Goalkeeper Coach of the Ambush http://www.stlouisambush.com/news/ambush-name-jamie-swanner-goal
Ambush lose to CR Rampage, blowing a 5 goal lead in another late collapse. To paraphrase Dennis Green, maybe they are who we thought they were - still winless. How does a team recover psychologically? Maybe a trade or a new player or two can bring some more positive energy to what must be a discouraging situation. Mother of Beryl.
Having been there, Megson's hat-trick in 41 seconds was the turning point. He just put the team on his back and flew at everything that shift and was laser accurate on all three shots. He played that 2+ minutes like he was taking being 7-2 down personally and the Ambush clearly were shell-shocked and then the fear/doubt set in. Couple that with a ROCKIN' building of 3,000, playing an anybody-but-Gurson defense (he is tremendous), and the momentum was a tidal wave we all saw coming.
Who got the red cards at the end of the dame when the altercation broke out. 2 Refs showed the red card.
50 seconds according to Pointstreak. I think the record is Steve Zungul's 36 second hat trick, but 41 or 5o seconds would be amazing.
Megson had a great minute, I give him credit - the Ambush just stopped playing in the middle of the 3rd quarter. I don't blame any refs, or injuries to other players, just lack of performance by the Ambush. They should have scored 3 or 4 more goals to go up 11-2 and really put it away but could not do it. CR did a great job coming back and winning but why yet another collapse by the Ambush? It looks like a psychological block on the Ambush team - and a need for better talent and better performance late in games. I wonder seriously about the future of our team if this performance level continues. I wish the new coach Tony Glavin the best of luck but he has his work cut out for him. I hope the Ambush pull off a trade or two and upgrade the roster - I like these guys personally but the wins are not there. The Ambush look shell shocked and tentative, they need some new energy on the team. CR is better than their record shows, for sure. Nice job so far, they should have already won a few games.
What had done in CR from getting their first win? Late collapses. Against St. Louis in the "home opener", and Detroit in the final two minutes at home. The Ambush's talent is better than the record indicates. Just need to emulate Chicago, has some young stud players and a consistently excellent goalkeeper.
I like the Ambush GK Silwa, but they keep starting GK Moeira for some reason (he has too many penalties). GK is actually decent for the Ambush - our issue is everyone else. If our players really do have the required talent, it needs to show in the 2nd half of these games. Time to rotate in some other guys and see if they can do the job that the regular roster can't (they did play one of the 'reserve roster' guys named Garrett). The Ambush have 10 guys on their 'reserve roster' (not recognized by the league but essentially a parking lot for injured guys and younger players). I will say that Detroit is well coached (though they change a lot of players for road games) and tend to be underestimated. The Ambush beat Detroit twice last year but each game was down to the wire. Chicago has decent talent, they obviously are getting more done than Saint Louis. Glad to see a Chicago team that is viable and building something over time. For some reason, Chicago indoor soccer teams have not done well in recent years.
Marcelo Moeira was hurt early in the 1st quarter . Megson nailed him hard clearly accidental since Megson stayed around to see if he was OK . He has a sore neck and a nice black eye and bruised face. IMHO Silwa just fell apart in the 2nd half and the Ambush defense just gave up.
I missed the early part of the CR vs. St. Louis game due to internet issues so I did not see the injury to Moeira. Those things happen in soccer. Silwa had just turned in a very decent performance against Tacoma (until the Ambush stopped playing defense late & managed to lose in OT). Silwa deserves some blame for the CR loss, for sure, but five other guys are supposed to defend as well. Megson is a fine player, he was the big catalyst for the comeback by CR. The lack of consistency in the Ambush defense has been a concern since preseason. Offense has not been great either, outside of Gordy Gurson. Midfielding has been less than adequate, mostly. We can only hope for development with Tony Glavin & the other new coaches. At least the owner is striving to make the team better. If the Ambush can win half their remaining games, that will be progress.
Very refreshing to see people actually discussing the games for a change and not all the peripheral stuff. Hope it's a good sign and that it continues!
Totally agree! I tried to get a discussion going on the Mustang/Waza Flo game, but that went nowhere. It would be great to discuss actual games for a change.
It was bad, I was talking to him and he sent me a photo of his face. He looked like he went a few rounds with Mike Tyson. I think the ambush will be fine Gordy Gurson to me was a fluke scoring all those goals last year. Maybe he will prove me wrong , The kid does have talent that's for sure. Freddy will be back soon and that will help the ambush a lot.
Freddy is trying to return in January. We will see. Muscle injuries are unpredictable. We sure hope he returns soon. Gurson has excellent scoring instincts & improving defense. He has been scoring this year too, even against average or better competition. Unfortunately he is not getting enough scoring from other teammates, not consistently anyway. When he was in Seattle, the competition was mostly weaker. He won't pound up the stats quite as much in a decent division but will do well. Gordy is not a fluke but he is not wearing a Superman cape either. More guys need to score. Ambush practiced today, FYI. I hope their holiday practice shows some wins next week - only stat that matters.
One of the big problems with the Ambush this season(and prob the last two), they only have 1 player so far with points (goals and assists) in the double digits. That's Gordy Gurson at 15 points. Compared to the Missouri Comets who have 8 players with dd points.
Part of that is because Freddy Moojen has only played one game and part is because Missouri has played three more games than the Ambush. But Lucas Almeida has been a bust so far and Gurson has scored or assisted on 45% of the Ambush's goals.
The Ambush just signed Forward Andre Hayne, a former star at Lindenwood University and David Paul, a defender. David played well for the Ambush last year and previously played in the top pro league in his home country of Poland. Agreed, Almeida has not done much & Moojen has been missed. Forward Kory Dowell is reportedly out for the year. He would have helped the offense. We will find out this week if our new coaches & players can add up to wins. Ambush play at home vs. Milwaukee tomorrow(chance to win) & the Comets on the road 12/29 (not holding my breath)
St. Louis Ambush defeated the Missouri Comets in Independence tonight 6-5. Newcomer Andre Hayne had the hat trick, Gordy Gurson had 2 goals and goalie Piotr Sliwa had 20 saves for the Ambush. Excellent mid-week game. St. Louis made the most of their offense by getting 6 goals on 12 shots. Can't count the number of times the Comets hit the post during their 25 shots on goal.
They hit that crossbar so many time I think they bent the post . That was one hell of a game.Andre Hayne has been a huge impact for them the last 2 games
The Ambush lost several games this year due to 'hitting the post' too many times & not scoring enough. Nice to see the other team wiff on their shots for a change. Comets also just lost to Milwaukee. Comets are learning that they can't coast through games like they used to. Recall that the Comets barely won an early game against Cedar Rapids, a game that CR had in the bag. I watched the 2nd half of the Ambush-Comets game - impressive performance by the Ambush - they scored 3 goals in a couple minutes (something the Comets usually do). Defense had a lapse or two but very solid at the end, great goalkeeping by Sliwa. Best passing in the back half I have seen all year. Comets looked tense and were rushing their shots. I think they expected to cakewalk and were caught flat footed by the Ambush. Comets GK Boris was playing way up field several times - that was odd. The Ambush should have put in an empty net goal or two. Maybe Hayne is the missing link in their offense. Now let's see if the Ambush can win a consecutive game, something rarely done in their 3 seasons.