Comets drop shootout heartbreaker to Sockers

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — The Kansas City Comets and San Diego Sockers engaged in a fiery battle on Saturday evening, but the Sockers came away with the extra point after taking a 7-6 win in a shootout at Cable Dahmer Arena.

The Comets nearly left empty-handed, but a goal from Dom Francis with two seconds left rescued a point. In the end, the Comets were unable to hold on to their three-goal lead as missed opportunities came back to haunt them after losing the shootout in the fourth round.

Nacho Flores struck first in the opening quarter, scoring on a power play assisted by Rian Marques to give the Comets some early momentum. Shortly after, the Sockers equalized when Mitchell Cardenas scored his third of the season.

San Diego grabbed its first lead of the night just 46 seconds into the second quarter as yet another defender found the back of the net. Kansas City answered midway through the quarter when Lesia Thetsane pounced on a turnover and found Zach Reget, who put a shot goalwards and eventually deflected in after a pair of detours. The Comets went up 3-2 before halftime when Marques showed composure with a delicate chip.

The game reached a tipping point in the third period when a confrontation along the boards ended with Sockers forward Tavoy Morgan being sent off for a red card after headbutting Flores. While the Comets missed the power play opportunity, they did eventually add two more goals to their lead through Reget’s second of the night before a header from David Stankovic on a service from Ramone Palmer.

Facing a 5-2 deficit, the Sockers rallied to pull one back from Luiz Morales late in the third. Morales struck again in the fourth before Nick Perera squeezed in the equalizer inside the final five minutes of the contest. After going 20 minutes without scoring, the Comets needed a response, yet time ticked away without the necessary answer.

With six attackers and a top-of-the-arc restart in the final minute, the Comets still couldn’t find the equalizer. But they still kept the belief, which eventually returned in Francis scoring the equalizer after a barrage of shots were kept out and the Englishman finally smashed in a volley on a last-gasp cross from Marques.

Both teams played out a scoreless overtime period as both goalkeepers made game-saving stops to extend the game to a shootout.

In round one, both teams offset themselves as Lucas Sousa missed the frame before Phillip Ejimadu saved Perera’s effort. The Sockers took the lead in the second round due to Francis’ shot being saved by Boris Pardo and Leonardo De Oliveira scoring.

Facing defeat, Marques extended the night longer by converting his third-round effort before Ejimadu saved an effort from Morales. San Diego finally secured the extra point in the fourth round, as Flores had his effort saved by Pardo before Charlie Gonzalez won it for the visitors.

“The boys fought hard,” Comets head coach Stefan Stokic said. “We had a chance to close the game out in the third quarter, and we did not; we kept them in the game. This is like a championship, so it comes down to little details; one pass, one shot, but it was a well-fought game from both sides.”

The point momentarily puts the Comets back into first place in the MASL standings, however, they could slip to third on Sunday if the Sockers win at home against Empire and Milwaukee defeats Tacoma on the road.

The Comets return to action next Sunday, Feb. 22, at home, wearing throwback jerseys against Utica City FC. Tickets for Retro Night are available at kccomets.com/tickets.

SCORING SUMMARY

SHOOTOUT SUMMARY

GAME STATS

Attendance - 3,940