COMETS FALL TO STARS, 6-5 IN OVERTIME

by Pete Richmire

INDEPENDENCE, MO. – The Kansas City Comets (1-4) opened their home schedule Friday night against the Tacoma Stars (1-0) and held a three-goal lead twice, but ultimately came up short 6-5 in overtime. Alvaro Beltran had a pair of goals for the Comets in the loss.

The Comets entered the match looking to snap a three-game skid, and for much of the game it looked as though they would do just that. Except for the overtime goal, the only time the Stars led during this match was after the first marker. Comets keeper Nicolau Neto was issued a blue card for handling outside the box and a shoot out was awarded to Tacoma. After Nick Perera’s shoot out attempt was blocked, Adrian Correa picked up the rebound and notched the power play goal giving the Stars a 1-0 lead with 9:16 to go in the first.

The next four goals went to Kansas City beginning with Beltran’s first less than a minute after Correa’s knotting the game 1-1. Following a blue card to Tacoma keeper Chris Toth for handling outside of the box, Ray Lee turned an assist from Adam James into his first goal of the season and the Comets led 2-1 after one quarter of play.

James was given his next assist when Hector Solorio scored for Kansas City just 16 seconds into the second quarter putting them up 3-1. The Comets first three-goal lead of the game came from Nick McDonald, assisted by Leo Gibson. After peppering Toth with shots, McDonald directed a rebound into the back of the net to make it 4-1 with 6:45 to go in the first half. The Stars struck next as Vini Dantas used a rebound off a set piece in front of Neto to score his first goal as a Tacoma Star and send the teams into half time with Kansas City up by a 4-2 score.

Beltran put the Comets back up by three by one-timing a pass from Gibson past the Stars second-half keeper, Danny Waltman with 10:21 on the clock in the third. Just as the Comets strung together four straight goals in the first half, Tacoma matched that feat in the second, starting with a power play effort from Parera to close scoring in the third.

Dantas brought the Stars within one on the first of Mike Ramos’ back-to-back assists with just 2:29 to go in the fourth and Tacoma’s sixth attacker on. Kansas City appeared to catch a break when the Stars were penalized for too many men on the field, setting up a Comets power play with 1:50 remaining. It was a pair of Cory Keitz goals for the Stars, the first of which was short handed 19 seconds into the Kansas City man-advantage, which swung the match Tacoma’s way. That one tied the game at 5-5 and forced overtime.

Dantas, who finished with three points on the night for Tacoma, connected with Keitz for the game winning goal with 2:58 to go in the extra frame.

Kansas City will continue their homestand next Friday the 29th, when they welcome the San Diego Sockers to the 2021 season. Game time is set for 7:05 pm and tickets are available through Ticketmaster or by calling (888) 9-COMETS.

SCORING SUMMARY

1st – TAC Correa (Perera) 5:44 PP; KC Beltran 6:21; KC Lee (James) 13:49 PP. Penalties – KC Neto blue card (handling) 5:41; TAC Toth blue card (handling) 11:54.

2nd – KC Solorio (James) 0:16; KC McDonald (Gibson) 8:23; TAC Dantas (Da Silva) 10:05. Penalties – KC Solorio blue card (tripping) 3:32.

3rd – KC Beltran (Gibson) 4:41; TAC Perera (Da Silva) 9:19 PP. Penalties – KC Kelly blue card (holding) 8:35; KC Lee blue card (tripping) 13:31.

4th – TAC Dantas (Ramos) 12:31; TAC Keitz (Ramos) 13:29 SH. Penalties – TAC blue card (too many men) 13:10.

OT – TAC Keitz (Dantas) 7:02. Penalties – none.

Shots – Kansas City 8-8-8-7-1 (32); Tacoma 10-7-7-9-3 (36)