COMETS BEAT TROPICS FOR FIRST HOME WIN

The Kansas City Comets took a 7-2 victory over the Florida Tropics tonight, earning their first home win of the season, and their first on the blue turf of SportShake Field. Comets Captain Bryan Perez lead all scorers with 3 points from 1 goal and 2 assists.

The Comets jumped out to an early lead five minutes in, when MASL points and assist leader Leo Gibson found Nacho Flores in the box for the first goal of the match.

The Comets were on the attack for the entire first quarter, with many close shots that bounced just off the posts or crossbar.

With just under a minute remaining in the first quarter, Lucas Rodriguez banked a pass off the legs of Florida’s keeper to Leo Gibson for a goal. The second quarter began with the scoreboard reading 2-0 in favor of Kansas City.

Just under three minutes into the second quarter Adam James used his head to nod the ball just over Hugo Silva’s hands and into the goal, putting the Comets up 3-0.

Three minutes later, Kiel Williams found himself with the ball deep in Florida territory nearly all alone. Silva charged toward Williams, who touched the ball gently across the goalie box to an incoming Bryan Perez for a goal.

The Tropics started to find their groove late in the second quarter, as a quick unassisted goal by forward Freddy Moojen was followed up less than a minute later with a goal from forward Ricardo De Queiroz Diegues, assisted by midfielder Rafa Alves.

With 50 seconds remaining in the half, momentum seemed to be shifting in Florida’s favor after their one-two-punch, but John Sosa and Ramone Palmer were determined to enter the locker room on a high note.

Just 20 seconds after Florida’s previous goal, Palmer fielded Sosa’s pass before banking a shot in off the back post.

The Comets would enter the locker room with a 5-2 lead.

After their aggressive offensive first half, the Comets turned up the heat on defense for the second half. Lead by Sosa’s 4 blocks and Brett Petricek’s .818 save percentage, Kansas City shut the Tropics out in the second half.

Both teams had a slow start to the second half, although Kansas City tallied several fouls early on in the third quarter.

The Comets were given a chance to extend their lead just before the 10 minute mark when forward Ricardo De Queiroz Diegues was given a blue card for boarding.

Kansas City was unable to convert on the power play, but not long after Kiel Williams found Bryan Perez for a second time to make the score 6-2 before the end of the third quarter.

One minute into the fourth period, Kansas City’s Lucas Rodriguez was called for a penalty, leading to a penalty kill scenario for the Comets.

The Comets successfully defended against Florida’s power play, but just before the penalty clock was up, the Tropics were given a penalty of their own.

As Kansas City returned to even strength, Florida was down a player. Coming into the match, the Tropics had yet to allow a power play goal this season.

At the five minute mark, James Togbah broke Florida’s perfect penalty kill streak on an assist from Perez. After Togbah’s goal, the scoreboard would read 7-2 in favor of the Comets for the remainder of regulation.