Early surge powers Comets past Wave

MILWAUKEE, WI - A red-hot start guided the Kansas City Comets to a 7-5 road triumph over the Milwaukee Wave on Sunday afternoon at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

Chad Vandegriffe made history, scoring just 8 seconds into the contest to score the quickest goal to start a game in current franchise history. That only began a four-goal onslaught in the opening 8 minutes, 13 seconds. Milwaukee got back in the game late, but an empty-net score from Christian Anderaos sealed all three points for the Comets.

Vandegriffe’s goal was his first of the season after he crashed the back post, where he scored a tap-in after Zach Reget threaded the needle through traffic. Milwaukee’s first touch of the afternoon was picking the ball up out of their own net, something they did again just over a minute later when Marcel Berry dashed through the middle to finish a layoff from Rian Marques.

The Comets took their foot off the pedal for a couple of minutes before adding a third score 4:26 into the game when the Comets’ press forced a turnover, which Anderaos assisted to Dom Francis. An early timeout from Milwaukee did little to stop another early score from the Comets, which came 8:13 into the game as the Comets burned the Wave again in transition with goalkeeper Phillip Ejimadu throwing the ball long for Marques to latch on to and score his 13th goal this season, giving Ejimadu his third assist.

Milwaukee were in danger of having more danger inflicted, but they managed to kill their first penalty of the contest shortly after going down 4-0. The Wave got on the board through former Comet Mike Da-Silva before Ramone Palmer’s goal made it 5-1, but the Wave got within three at halftime when Javier Steinwascher made it 5-2.

The Comets killed their first penalty of the game as time expired in the second quarter. When both teams returned to the floor for the second half, Guerrero Pino, the perpetrator of the second-quarter holding penalty, was issued a red card for violent conduct or serious foul play.

Again, the Comets killed the penalty, which was served by Ali Alomari, despite Pino’s absence. The Comets went up 6-2 when Michael Lenis scored 4:23 into the third quarter, only for Cesar Correa to get the Wave back within three scores four minutes later.

The Wave’s comeback effort slowly kicked up a notch in the fourth quarter as Oscar Flores scored with 5:33 to play. A goal from Alex Sanchez brought Milwaukee within a score in the final four minutes, but Anderaos scored into an empty net to extinguish Milwaukee’s hopes, making it 7-5 inside the final 90 seconds.

The road victory extended the Comets’ lead at the top of the table to five points, now 8-3-2 on the season with 24 points. They have a league-best 5-1-1 record away from home.

Reget finished the afternoon with three assists, leading the league with 27 points. Anderaos and Marques each notched multi-point performances as they both scored and assisted once. Ejimadu made 16 saves in addition to his first-quarter assist, earning his league-leading seventh win this season.

Milwaukee fell to its first home defeat this season, dropping to 6-2-2 on 19 points in second place.

The Comets will visit the Empire Strykers next Sunday, Jan. 25, before returning home on Friday, Jan. 30 to host Empire for Star Wars Night. Tickets for the final home game of January are available at kccomets.com/tickets.

Attendance - 2,387