Comets Hold Onto First Place in the Central Division with Win

The KC Comets retained their top spot in the MASL Central Division and even expanded their lead after the Baltimore Blast knocked off the Milwaukee Wave as the Comets won 10-4 on the road in St. Louis to once again sweep the season series against the Ambush (the Comets are now 13-1 all time against the St. Louis Ambush since both teams' rebirth.

The Comets got the game started quickly with a goal just over two minutes into the first quarter off a restart as Lucas Rodriguez scored to make it 1-0 to the Comets. The Rodriguez goal was the only goal of the period for either team, but the Comets controlled the quarter creating the better of the chances but unable to extend their lead. In the second though the Comets got the game moving, scoring just 40 seconds into the second period as Ramone Palmer cut an Ambush defender inside out before firing a shot on goal that Guerrero Pino headed into the net to make it 2-0 to the Comets. It took a while for the Comets to extend the lead further, but near the midpoint of the quarter, new signing (and Swope Park Rangers signing according to tonight's broadcast) Ray Saari flicked a ball with a back heel into the path of Brian Harris who buried the shot to make it 3-0 to the Comets. Shortly after the goal the Comets extended the lead to 4-0 going from one end to the other. On the defensive end, John Sosa was in the right spot to block a pass towards an open goal and the Comets immediately went the opposite way with Ignacio Flores springing Pino who caught Ambush goalkeeper Casey Clark out and Pino finished into the open net. In the final minute of the quarter the Comets extended the lead to 5-0 before half time as Vahid Assadpour held off his defender as he raced to goal and put a shot past Clark heading into half time.

In the third quarter, the Comets continued to control the game and keep the shut out. Less than two minutes in on the power play the Comets extended the lead to six as Sosa fired a shot from distance inside the far post to make it 6-0 to the Comets. The Comets continued the pressure and less than seven minutes in the Comets made it 7-0 as Sosa picked out Assadpour on a restart to make it 7-0 to the Comets. Late in the quarter the Comets pushed the lead further making it 8-0 with just over a minute left as Flores jumped on a poor giveaway by the Ambush defense as the ball slowed on the turf, Flores easily buried the shot into the net. Before the quarter ended though the Ambush finally got on the board off a restart off the corner to make it 8-1 through three periods.

The fourth quarter saw the Ambush come out with the sixth attacker for the final period trying to get back into the game. The Comets took advantage of the sixth attacker early on as Alain Matingou found Odaine Sinclair in the Comets defensive end, Sinclair raced down the field and beat the Ambush sixth attacker to make it 9-1 to the Comets. The Ambush left the sixth attacker out and were able to cut into the lead as the quarter went on with Victor Fance scoring twice and Joao Pepe scoring once to cut the Comets lead to 9-4. The Comets meanwhile got a number of chances to extend the lead but couldn't take advantage of them as the lead got cut to just five. With less than three minutes left though the Comets took advantage of their high pressure on the Ambush sixth attacker leading to Rodriguez and Assadpour having a two on one, as Assadpour drew the defense he picked out Rodriguez at the back post who had a tap in to finish the scoring at 10-4 for the Comets. The win allows the Comets to keep their one game lead ahead of Cedar Rapids in the Central with only four games left. The Comets have three of those final four games at home, with their only road trip being to the Milwaukee Wave.