Cedar Rapids Rampage keep pace with 13-10 victory over St. Louis

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Cedar Rapids Rampage vowed to not take the one-win St. Louis Ambush lightly.

While the visiting Ambush routinely made a push, four goals from defender Pablo Da Silva allowed Cedar Rapids to prevail, 13-10, in a Major Arena Soccer League game before 2,728 fans Friday night at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'I play as a defender, but sometimes when you have the opportunity to go forward you have to go forward,' Da Silva said. 'And tonight was one of those nights. I had some good finishes.'

Da Silva entered the contest with four scores this season. The 36-year-old Brazil native doubled that amount Friday night, including back-to-back goals that gave the Rampage a 9-5 lead with 6:53 left in the third quarter. St. Louis (1-15) — losers of 10 games in a row — got no closer than three scores the rest of the way.

'They're a team that never gives up,' Rampage midfielder Gordy Gurson said. 'I know they have one win on the board, but at the same time those guys put in work every single day and I know they're not doing it for nothing. For them to have the opportunity to ruin our playoff chances. I know they were hungry for it.'

The victory allowed Cedar Rapids (11-5) to keep pace with Milwaukee (11-5) for second place in the MASL Central Division. Both teams trail Kansas City (11-4), and there is only enough room in the playoffs for two. Milwaukee has won seven games in a row, including a 14-3 thrashing of Cedar Rapids last Sunday. After allowing fewer than five goals per game through the first 13 matches, Cedar Rapids has allowed 33 goals in its last three games.

'It's insane,' Da Silva said. 'It's too many goals. We cannot give that many goals heading out to Milwaukee. They have a good team. They're fighting for a playoff spot. We need to get better defensively.'

Cedar Rapids returns to Milwaukee Feb. 12 and closes the season at Kansas City Feb. 26.

Nine different Rampage players scored against St. Louis, including former Cedar Rapids Xavier prep Charlie Bales. Player-coach Hewerton Moreira collected a goal and a game-high four assists, while defender Joshio Sandoval added a goal and three assists. Gurson tallied two goals, which pushed his MASL career total to 101 scores in three seasons. Gurson has 39 goals in 25 games since arriving in Cedar Rapids via a midseason trade from St. Louis last year.

'I've got to thank my teammates,' Gurson said. 'I'm just happy that the most amount of goals I've scored is with this team and with this franchise. They've been really great to me and great to the guys.'

AT U.S. CELLULAR CENTER

St. Louis 3 0 4 3—10

Cedar Rapids 4 3 3 3—13

First Quarter — Scoring:

1. Cedar Rapids: Antonio Aguilar (Joshio Sandoval), 2:30. 2. Cedar Rapids: Gordy Gurson (Hewerton Moreira), 4:32. 3. St. Louis: Richard Schmermund (Ross MacGregor), 5:13. 4. Cedar Rapids: Pablo Da Silva (Sandoval 2), 8:15. 5. St. Louis: Nick Kolarac (Daniel Berko), 11:37. 6. Cedar Rapids: Antonello Paradiso (Moreira 2), 12:39. 7. St. Louis: Kentaro Takada (Lucas Almeida), 12:47

Second Quarter — Scoring:

8. Da Silva 2 (Sandoval 3), 3:09. 9. Cedar Rapids: Gurson 2 (Brett Petricek), 6:54, 10. Tony Walls (Gordy Gurson), 8:26 (PP)

Third Quarter — Scoring:

11. St. Louis: Cody Blentlinger (Victor France), 2:37. 12. St. Louis: France, 3:55. 13. Cedar Rapids: Da Silva 3 (Moreira 3), 4:59. 14. Cedar Rapids: Da Silva 4 (Derek Huffman), 8:07. 15. Cedar Rapids: Huffman (Patrick Kelly), 9:01. 16. St. Louis: Takada (Richard Schmermund), 12:51 (PP). 17. St. Louis: Joao Pepe, 14:59.

Fourth Quarter — Scoring:

18. Cedar Rapids: Moreira, 0:23 (PK). 19. St. Louis: France 2 (Blentlinger), 2:56. 20. Cedar Rapids: Sandoval (Da Silva), 4:40. 21. St. Louis: France 3, 5:46. 22: Cedar Rapids: Charlie Bales (Moreira 4), 7:07 (PP). 23. St. Louis: Stefan St. Louis (Kory Dowell), 9:48.

Powerplay opportunities —

St. Louis 0-2, Cedar Rapids 1-4.

Goalies — St. Louis: Nikola Marojevic 37-24, Cedar Rapids: Brett Petricek 13-3. Shots on goal — St. Louis 5-1-4-3—13, Cedar Rapids

12-17-4-4—39.

A—2,728.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com