COMETS SINK WAVE 9-3 IN HOME OPENER

by Pete Richmire

INDEPENDENCE, MO. – In their only meeting this season, the Comets (1-0-0) tripled up the Wave (1-1-) by a 9-3 final in front of 4,924 fans on Opening Night at Cable Dahmer Arena. Zach Reget netted a first-half hat-trick and John Sosa posted a four-point game with a goal and three assists for the Comets in the win.

Comets’ head coach Stefan Stokic was impressed with his team’s effort on both sides of the ball following his first win at the helm of the squad.

“For the first game of the season, we showed discipline and organization. We showed that we can defend and score at the same time which is why we brought in some quality players,” said Stokic.

The dominant win came even with several key players unavailable tonight.

Reget opened the scoring with his first goal which came unassisted with 11:36 to go in the first. 19 seconds later, Henry Ramirez doubled the lead on an assist from John Sosa to make it a 2-0 lead with 11:07 to go in the opening frame.

Milwaukee responded with a pair of power-play goals from Ricardo Carvalho and Derek Huffman to level the game with 5:36 to go in the first quarter. For Huffman, it was his second goal of the season and Carvalho went on to net two markers in this game.

The Comets scored goals in the final 30 seconds in each of the first three quarters tonight and the first was a walla-scora from Reget on a sharp assist by Eduardo “Lalo” Alonso Alejo with just 18 seconds to play in the first which ultimately put the Comets in front for good.

Nacho Flores found the back of the net for the Comets for the first time this season and just 47 seconds later, Carvalho converted on a Comets miscue to make the score a 4-3 Kansas City lead with 11:17 to go in the first half.

Kansas City scored the final five goals of the game beginning with Reget’s third of the night, assisted by Sosa to run the Comets lead to two at 5-3 with 4:32 on the clock in the second quarter.

It was a Comets’ odd man rush which saw Michael Lenis produce his first career MASL point when he assisted Lucas Sousa on a goal with 24 seconds to play in the half. It was a 6-3 Kansas City lead at that point, an advantage they took to the second half.

Milwaukee converted on their only two power play chance of the game and the Comets made good on theirs when Flores took a pass from Sosa and put it past Wave keeper William Banahene with a diving header at the back post for a 7-3 Kansas City lead with 7:08 on the clock in the third.

Ray Lee got into the scoring with an assist from Robert Plamer following a flurry of activity in front of the Milwaukee goal with 29 seconds showing in the third frame. To go with the assist, Palmer also made his presence felt defensively as he lead all defenders with 10 blocks in the game for the Comets.

With several minutes left to play in the final quarter, the Wave pulled Banahene in favor of sixth attacker Mario Alvarez. They had just returned Banahene to the field when 12 seconds later, Sosa picked up his fourth point of the night on Lenis’ second assist to reach the 9-3 score with 3:22 to play in the game.

Kansas City keeper Nicolau Neto stopped 16 of 19 shots he faced on his way to the win. In all, Comets defenders blocked 23 shots to Milwaukee’s nine on the night.

The Comets are back in action on Sunday, December 3 at Cable Dahmer Arena when they renew their rivalry with the in-state St. Louis Ambush at 4:05 pm. Tickets are available at www.kccomets.com/tickets.

SCORING SUMMARY

1^st – KC Reget – 1 (unassisted) 3:24; KC Ramirez – 1 (Sosa) 3:51; MKE Carvalho – 1 (Alvarez) 7:27; MKE Huffman – 2 (Alvarez) 9:26 pp; KC Reget – 2 (Alejo) 14:43 Penalties – KC Lenis (blue card, tripping) 5:43; KC Flores (blue card, tripping) 8:18.

2^nd – KC Flores – 1 (Marques) 2:57; MKE Carvalho – 2 (unassisted) 3:43; KC Reget – 3 (Sosa) 10:29; KC Sousa – 1 (Lenis) 14:36. Penalties – None.

3^rd – KC Flores – 2 (Sosa) 7:52 pp; KC Lee – 1 (Palmer) 14:31. Penalties – MKE Azcueta (blue card, holding) 6:54.

4^th – KC Sosa – 1 (Lenis) 11:38. Penalties – None.

Power Play – Comets 1/1, Milwaukee 2/2

Penalty Minutes – Comets 4, Milwaukee 2

Fouls – Comets 19, Milwaukee 19

Shots – Comets 37, Milwaukee 42

Attendance – 4,924