November 6 (1992)

The St. Louis Ambush, the latest indoor soccer team in town, lose their first-ever game, 13-10, against the Dayton Dynamo in Dayton, Ohio. The Ambush never lead in the National Professional Soccer League match. Doug Kriska, John Klein, future Indoor Soccer Hall of Famer Daryl Doran, Kirk Moser and Tim Walters each score one two-point goal. The Ambush represent the third try for St. Louis at professional indoor soccer. Their predecessors were the Steamers (1979-88) and the Storm (1989-92). Fans used to watching the Steamers and Storm in the old Major Indoor Soccer League will notice one big difference in the NPSL game: scoring. A goal on a penalty kick counts as one point; most goals scored from the run of play count for two points; and long-range goals count for three points. All 17 players on the Ambush’s opening-game roster are St. Louis-area residents, as is head coach and former Steamers star Steve Pecher. (Future Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame and Ambush goalkeeper Slobo Ilijevski, a native of Yugoslavia, arrived in St. Louis in 1980 to play for the Steamers.) Dr. Abe Hawatmeh, a part owner of the Storm, is president and chairman of the board of the Ambush. The Ambush will post a 19-21 regular-season record and lose in the playoff semifinals to Kansas City. The franchise will continue through the 1999-2000 season and will reach the NPSL finals four times. They will win the 1995 league title, the only U.S. professional soccer league championship won by a St. Louis team, indoors or outdoors. The franchise name will be revived in 2013. The team continues today in the Major Arena Soccer League at its home facility, the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. The current Ambush will surpass the original Steamers as the longest-running pro indoor team in St. Louis soccer history when the Ambush open their 10th season on Friday, Nov. 25, against the Kansas City Comets at the Family Arena. Game time is 5:05 p.m.