By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com
MUSKEGON – For three quarters, the Muskegon Risers played outstanding defensively, only giving up two goals in 45 minutes of play.
But the fourth quarter was a whole different story.
The Risers entered the final quarter with a slim 3-2 lead, but failed to stop St. Louis as the Ambush scored four fourth-quarter goals and defeated the Risers 6-5.
Muskegon had a chance to tie the game with two seconds left off the foot of Jonah Dancer, but the Ambush goalkeeper saved the day with a final key save as the buzzer sounded.
The Risers, after settling for the weekend split against St. Louis, are now 2-4 on the season, good for a third-place tie in the North Division of the Major Arena Soccer League 2 standings.
Muskegon is now at the midway point of the season and will need to earn some key wins down the stretch to compete for a possible playoff berth.
The Risers will remain home to face the first-place Iowa Demon Hawks Feb. 2-3 at Trinity Health Arena. Both games are set for 7 p.m.
“We have had quarters where we have given up a lot of goals all season,” said Risers coach Michael Vollmer. “It’s been our bugaboo. It’s very frustrating.”
The first quarter ended in a rare scoreless tie.
St. Louis was given the lone power-play opportunity at the 6:50 mark of the opening quarter, but failed to convert.
The Ambush had their second power-play chance early in the second quarter, but the Risers stood tall defensively to keep the game scoreless.
St. Louis finally ended the scoring drought 10:41 into the second quarter with a goal from Luyanda Nogenga. That was the lone goal of the opening half.
“Not scoring a goal during the first half was a big part of the game,” Vollmer said. “I think we were generating enough and we could have had four or five goals and it helped change the outcome of the game.”
The Ambush increased their advantage to 2-0 shortly after a power play with a goal from Raul Arteaga 5:47 into the third quarter.
The Risers finally ended their scoring drought just after receiving their first power play of the contest. Taylor Pill found the back of the net from the right corner side of the net at the 7:54 mark of the third period to cut the Risers deficit to 2-1.
Muskegon completed its comeback just 22 seconds later with a goal from Jonah Dancer at 8:16.
The Risers took their first lead of the contest late in the third quarter on a shot from Cody Loss that tickled the top of the net 13:42 into the quarter. Muskegon held a slim 3-2 advantage heading into the final 15 minutes of play.
The Ambush retook the lead after scoring a pair of early fourth-quarter goals. Niall Torricelli found the back of the net on the power play to tie the game at the 1:38 mark, then Louis Perez gave St. Louis a 4-3 lead at 4:04.
The Risers responded 7:19 into the fourth quarter on Pill’s second goal of the contest to tie the game. The Risers regained the lead on a penalty kick from Cesar Alayo at the 8:33 mark.
Muskegon could not quite retain the lead the Ambush scored the final two goals to earn the win.
Torricelli scored his second power-play goal of the game for St. Louis 10:24 into the fourth quarter to tie the game.
The Ambush notched the eventual game-winning goal at 11:04 on a goal from Aamahn Murvin.
“We couldn’t get the job done in the end,” Vollmer said. “Too many blue cards which you can never have and expect to win.”
