With temperatures reaching 106F inside the Championship Stadium at the Maryland SoccerPlex, AC St. Louis beat Crystal Palace Baltimore 1-0 after a Mike Ambersley late second half strike. St. Louis picked up three invaluable away points and finished the teams' league fixtures with their second 1-0 victory over Palace.
The soaring temperatures definitely had an impact on the game. St. Louis registered only three shots on goal and Palace had even less, only calling St. Louis goalkeeper Alec Dufty into action twice. Palace may have asked the St. Louis goalkeeper more searching questions had his defenders not done such a fantastic job in front of him.
Palace Baltimore's two shots on goal were both by Japanese midfielder, Tsuyoshi Yoshitake. The first was a header that forced Dufty into a smart save to his left. His second strike was one of his dipping free kicks that went straight into the waiting arms of the grateful St. Louis number one.
St. Louis forward, Jeff Cosgriff, almost broke the deadlock twice on either side of the break. In the 28th minute, he cleverly turned Palace Baltimore defender, Paul Robson, but his left-footed effort with space around him was right at Evan Bush. His 57th minute shot, after some nifty footwork, was equally as tame and never troubled the Baltimore keeper.
The substitution of Lucio on the hour mark almost paid immediate dividends. His first touch was a well-struck shot off a Brooks dummy, but the poorly-directed effort sailed over the St. Louis net.
St. Louis took the lead in the 74th minute with a Mike Ambersley strike. The pacy Number 15 latched onto a Cosgriff through ball and put a low hard effort from a tight angle underneath Bush and into the far side of the net.
In the 81st minute, Zach Bauer hauled down Palace striker Randi Patterson in the 18 yard box and was lucky to escape with only a yellow card.
There would be no late heroics for Palace. Defender Paul Robson issued Palace Baltimore's third straight red card of the season in the 89th minute reducing Palace to ten men.
Palace Baltimore's next game is another home fixture. They face Montreal Impact on Saturday, July 31st at the Maryland SoccerPlex at 7 p.m.
