COMETS FALL TO MILWAUKEE WAVE IN SEASON OPENER

Milwaukee, WI (December 1, 2018) - The Kansas City Comets were defeated 10-6 in their first match of the 2018-2019 season by conference rival Milwaukee Wave. Alain Matingou led Kansas City with 2 goals on the night, but the Wave’s offensive front proved too much for the Comets. 

The Comets’ first goal of the night and season came five minutes into the first quarter when Matingou’s left-footed toe poke streaked by Wave keeper Josh Lemos.

Unfortunately, the Comets suffered a communication issue on defense, and the Wave’s Isaac Pereyra took full advantage, tapping a shot past Brett Petricek. 

Later, Robert Renaud put a ball into the top right corner of the net, just out of reach of Petricek’s outstretched arms, putting the Wave up 2-1. During the celebration of Renaud’s goal, Milwaukee defender Tenzin Rampa suffered a knee injury which left him out for the rest of the match.

With 90 seconds left in the first period, Comets-nemesis Ian Bennett found the lower right corner of the goal, extending the Wave’s lead to 3-1. Bennett lead all scorers with 4 goals on the night.

In the second quarter, forward Adam James’s hard shot-on-goal ricocheted straight to Ramone Palmer, who popped the ball over the grounded keeper. 

Later, Matingou found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, as a strike from Luan Oliveira bounced off him into the Comet’s goal. Ian Bennett’s second goal of the night came with a little under 3 minutes remaining in the first half. 

Despite starting the second half down 2-5, the Comets fought back in the third quarter. An early goal from the Wave forward Andre Hayne was matched by goals from Kansas City’s James and Matingou.

The Comets suffered from several penalties in the third quarter, including a yellow card on John Sosa and later a blue card pulled on Robert Palmer. A shootout followed the blue card, and Ian Bennett was able to convert off an assist from Max Ferdinand, earning himself a hat trick.

In the fourth period, Kansas City simply would not go away. The Comets successfully defended during a penalty kill scenario, and Leo Gibson converted a quick defensive play on the Milwaukee side of the pitch into his first goal of the season.

Shortly after, Sosa found the net for the first time this season as his hard strike proved a bit too hot for Milwaukee’s Lemos, cutting the deficit to 6-8 and putting the Comets in striking distance.

The Comets’ strategy of using Lucas Rodriguez as a sixth attacker helped to spark their offense late in the game but made things difficult on the defensive end. 

The Wave’s Ferdinand assisted Ian Bennett on his fourth goal of the game, and later a long shot by Angel “Chino” Curiel from the Milwaukee side of the pitch found its way into the goal.

As always, Kansas City fought until the very end, but came up short this time. They’ll seek their first win of the season when they face the Mississauga MetroStars on Thursday, December 13 at 6:35 p.m. CT. Stream the game live on the Comets website, at KCComets.com/live-feed.

MASL Match Report
Match: Milwaukee Wave vs Kansas City Comets
Date: December 1, 2018
Venue: UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Kickoff: 6:14 p.m. CT
Attendance: 5,374

Scoring Summary