Comets Defense Leads the Way to Victory Over Chicago

Ever since the Kansas City Comets have returned in 2010 they've relied on a high powered offense to lead them to victory. From Byron Alvarez to Geison Moura, to Leo Gibson, to Vahid Assadpour, the Comets have always found ways to score goals since their rebirth. And while they've had good defensive teams at the same time, the Comets had not recorded a shutout since they started playing again. That changed tonight at the Silverstien Eye Centers Arena, where the Comets pitched the shutout against the previously unbeaten Chicago Mustangs 6-0. Goalkeeper, Stephen Paterson came up with 19 saves in the game to lead the Comets to victory.

The Comets scored the only two goals of the first half in the first quarter as Nacho Flores scored less than four minutes in to give the Comets an early lead. Less than nine minutes in the Comets doubled their lead off a restart as John Sosa found Lucas Rodriguez whose shot found the back of the net to make it 2-0. Both teams had chances in the remainder of the first quarter and in the second, but neither side were able to find a goal as Paterson and Jesus Flores both stood tall in goal to keep the score at 2-0 heading into the half time break.

The Comets were able to extend their lead early in the third quarter as Sosa again found Rodriguez to make it 3-0 just over six minutes into the quarter to make it 3-0. The Comets continued the pressure in the third quarter but were unable to extend their lead, but at the same time in their defensive third, Paterson and the Comets defense was able to keep the Mustangs off the board through three periods.

In the past the Comets have had games where they've held a shutout heading into the fourth quarter but have ended up giving up a garbage goal as the team let down a little bit with a big lead. That didn't happen tonight at the SEC as the Comets defense continued to step up big in the fourth quarter to keep the Mustangs off the board. On the offensive end, the Comets were able to extend their lead as just over two minutes in Odaine Sinclair found the back of the net to put the Comets on top 4-0. Near the midpoint of the half the Comets were able to add to their lead on the power play as Vahid Assadpour beat Flores off an assist from Leo Gibson to put the Comets up 5-0. KC finished out the scoring for the night in the final minute when Ramoe Palmer scored against the Mustangs' sixth attacker to make it 6-0 on the night.

The Comets will now have a double game week next weekend, traveling to Cedar Rapids to take on the Rampage on Saturday before hosting the Baltimore Blast on Sunday.