Comets Ruin Waltman's Homecoming

Danny Waltman was the Missouri Comets goalkeeper for the first five years of their re-birth in indoor soccer, he endeared himself to the fans with his personality, showmanship, and of course his play on the field. This offseason though he returned to Washington to join the Tacoma Stars in their first full season in the MASL. Last night Waltman and the Stars came to the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena but it wasn't a welcome homecoming for Waltman as the Comets ran away from the Stars winning 12-5.

The Stars actually came out as the much more aggressive side in the game pressing the Comets hoping to force mistakes. The Comets though were able to get on the board first through Lucas Rodriguez off a restart. Tacoma though was able to capitalize on their high pressure though as they scored a pair of goals through Jamael Cox and Derek Johnson to end the first quarter ahead 2-1.

The high pressure kept the Comets at bay for a good portion of the second quarter as well. But just over half way through the Comets finally leveled the score as Milan Ivanovic slotted a ball from the top of the box into the corner past Waltman. The goal started a quick run for the Comets as 39 seconds later Bryan Perez gave the Comets the lead again as he tapped home a shot from inside the box after Leo Gibson dribbled down the side and got Waltman to commit. The Comets weren't done either as 31 seconds after that Ramone Palmer scored to put the Comets up 4-2 which is where the two teams were at as they headed into half time.

The third quarter saw the Comets extend their lead further, outscoring the Stars 3-1. After Perez and Tacoma's Tyrone Hall traded goals in the first nine minutes of the quarter, the Comets were able to pull further away. First Rodriguez got his second goal of the game again off a restart on a power play, then a minute and a half later John Sosa extended the lead to 7-3 after a few failed chances on the line weren't collected or cleared by the Stars defense.

In the fourth the Comets were able to extend the lead further. All the scoring though occurred in the second half of the quarter. After controlling the first half of the quarter but unable to extend the lead until just over seven minutes had been played when Waltman got caught in possession outside his box. Robert Palmer played the ball into the middle for Vahid Assadpour who needed two chances but scored to make it 8-3. A minute later some good interplay between Gibson and Ramone Palmer led to another goal as Palmer fed Robert Palmer to make it 9-4. Ten seconds later the Stars had pulled a goal back with Hall scoring his second goal of the game. The Comets responded in kind as Gibson scored his first goal of the game as he was unmarked at the back post to finish a Perez cross. The Stars threw more numbers forward trying to find a way back into the game with Waltman basically playing as a sixth attacker quite often. The high line though allowed the Comets to counter as Gibson sprung Robert Palmer who scored his second goal of the game to make it 11-4. With less than a minute left the Comets finished off their scoring as Gibson scored from midfield as Waltman was up field. After the goal Waltman removed his gloves and threw them into the stands as he'd done during his time in KC. His teammate Raphael Cox wasn't done though as he added on one more goal for the Stars to finish the game at 12-5.