AC St. Louis, playing in the USSF Division 2 Pro League, will conclude their inaugural season Saturday night, October 2, with a 7:10 p.m. CDT kick-off against the Rochester Rhinos at The Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park. The game can be viewed live via web streaming at www.ac-stlouis.com. St. Louis will be looking to play the role of spoiler as Rochester may still have the chance to capture the number one overall seed in the USSF Division II Pro League Playoffs.

AC St. Louis will carry quite a few injuries into Saturday night’s contest. Forward and leading scorer Mike Ambersley is nursing a sore shoulder. Brazilian Midfielder Gauchinho has missed all of practice this week with an ankle injury. Defender and team captain Jack Traynor has an injury to his quadriceps, while his defensive line partner Zach Bauer has reinjured his left foot. Even the dependable Troy Cole is recovering from a blow to the head that resulted in a cut getting stapled.

Head Coach Dale Schilly and his staff may have a few selection problems as the team goes into this last game, but they will still have a team eager to achieve a few goals. Despite starting the season slowly AC St. Louis has the opportunity to finish their first season with a winning home record. The club is currently 5-5-4 at The Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park in 2010, a very respectable record for a first year expansion team.

Under Dale Schilly and his staff of John Vanbuskirk, Blake Decker, and Tim Leonard AC St. Louis has posted a record of 5-7-7, which is quite a turnaround from their low point of 1-7-1 after nine matches to start the season. A win Saturday would mean AC St. Louis collected 25 of their 32 total points under the new coaching staff.

The club also has a chance to collect a few individual honors. Mike Ambersley and Luke Kreamalmeyer have the opportunity to finish in the top 10 in the league in points scored. Both St. Louis players have 18 points after 29 games. Ambersley has nine goals, and Kreamalmeyer has five goals and eight assists. Kreamalmeyer also is just 90 minutes away from winning the assist title for the year. Kreamalmeyer’s eight assists lead the league by one over two other players.

Goalkeeper Alec Dufty and defender Mark Bloom will look to cement their status as the “iron men” of AC St. Louis. Alec Dufty has played in every minute of every match this year, and if not for an abandoned match against Puerto Rico he would enter Saturday night’s game with a perfect 2,610 minutes played. Dufty currently has 2,602, which is the third best in the league. Mark Bloom, who has also played in every match, is sixth in the league in minutes played with 2,438.

How this final match shapes up will be largely determined by the outcome of Friday night’s Austin v. Carolina match. Should Austin beat Carolina they would clinch the top spot in the playoffs over Rochester. Should Carolina win or tie in that match Rochester would still have the opportunity to clinch the number one seed in the playoffs with a win over AC St. Louis. Austin will play their 30th and final game on Sunday against Montreal.

ABOUT AC ST. LOUIS
AC St. Louis will play its first year of professional soccer in the USSF Division 2 Pro League in 2010. The team was formally launched in November of 2009. AC St. Louis will play their home games at The Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park in suburban St. Louis. For information call 1-888-STL-GOAL.