Comets Fall to Syracuse

In a battle for first place, the Comets and Syracuse Silver Knights had an encounter that deserved to be called such. The refereeing though left plenty to be desired with a number of questionable decisions having an effect on the game.

The Knights jumped out to an early lead as Machel Millwood received the ball back to goal and ended up turning Coady Andrews and firing a shot past Danny Waltman to give the Knights the lead. The Comets were able to get back into the game on the power play. Vahid Assadpour fed the ball to Leo Gibson who beat Brian O'Quinn to make it 2-2. The rest of the quarter saw the Comets spending time on the penalty kill, first Brian Harris went to the box for tripping, and with just 2 seconds left on the power play, Kenardo Forbes hit a three pointer. Then with time running down in the half, Ramone Palmer went to the box for kicking after making a slide tackle for a ball at midfield. Shortly after he went to the box, Robert Palmer joined him after a tripping penalty. In a 3v5 situation the Comets held out, but not long as Neto scored with under a minute left to make it 7-2.

The second quarter saw the Comets grab control of the game. Gibson scored his second goal of the game just over four minutes in off an assist from Milan Ivanovic. Less than a minute later, the Comets had tied the game. Off a restart in the corner, Bryan Perez fed the ball back to Assadpour who let rip from 3 point range, the ball curled inside the near post to level the game at 7-7. The Comets grabbed the lead just over nine minutes into the quarter as Harris found Gibson and finished off the opportunity to complete his hattrick. Nelson Santana tied the game back up with under 3 minutes left in the half off an assist from Forbes. The Comets though would hed into the half up 11-9 after Rober Palmer found Assadpour for his second of the game.

Just two minutes into the third quarter, the Comets extended their lead, as Assadpour raced down the field and fed the ball to Stefan St Louis. St Louis' shot though went off the wall, but the rebound fell to Assadpour who finished his opportunity on the second chance to make it 13-9. Just before the half way point, the Knights got a gift to get them within one score. After collecting a shot, Waltman was looking to distribute it short, but the ball slid out of his hand as he tried to pull it back into his body. Neto was the first to react. Waltman tried to slide and save it, but Neto got around him and scored. The Comets had a few opportunities to extend their lead, but didn't  finish or couldn't convert. Harris had a goal rule out because the rebound of his initial shot bounced off his arm and into the goal. Gibson raced in 1v1 with O'Quinn, but as he got into the box he got caught from behind. No foul was called though as Gibson was barreled over. With under a minute left, the Knights won a restart, it was played to the top of the 3 point arc by by Millwood. Forbes fired from 3 point range, beating Waltman again to give the Knights the lead again at 14-13.

In the fourth quarter the Comets grabbed a goal less than five minutes in as Assadpour fed the ball to the back post for Byron Alvarez to tap home to make it 15-14. The Comets defense held as the minutes ticked off the clock. the Comets offense also got opportunities, but O'Quinn did a very good job in goal. Then with under 5 minutes left, the Comets turned the ball over in their own end to Neto. John Sosa tried to chase him down, but ended up fouling him and earning a blue card. A play similar to the one that had been a no call in the previous quarter when Gibson was fouled. Santana stepped up for the shoot out, as he tried to round Waltman, the Comets goalkeeper stuck an arm out and knocked the ball away. Unfortunately, his hand was outside the box. Waltman was given a blue card, that Ramone Palmer served, and Santana got another chance. This time Santana didn't try to go around Waltman and just beat him with power to give the Knights a 16-15 lead. The Comets would pressure and with just under 2 minutes left would go with the sixth attacker. The Knights though would be the ones who would take advantage of the less experienced goalkeeper in goal with Forbes finishing off his hattrick to make it 18-15 with under a minute left. That's how the game would end up as the Comets would drop their second home game of the season.