Comets Streak Snapped in Milwaukee

One night after winning their ninth straight game, the Comets saw their winning streak snapped on the road in Milwaukee 7-5 against the Milwaukee Wave. The win for the Wave saw them secure a playoff berth, meaning for the seventh straight year the Comets and Wave will meant in the playoffs with the Comets going 4-2 in the prior six playoff match ups.

In Milwaukee on Saturday, the Comets jumped out in front in the first quarter about midway through the period as some great work by the Comets saw Lucas Rodriguez play the ball to Ramone Palmer who played it across the field to Nacho Flores who squared it to the back post for Rodriguez who continued his run for the easy tap in to finish the play and put the Comets up 1-0. The rest of the quarter went against the Comets though as the Wave scored a pair of goals in the final five minutes to end the quarter on top 2-1.

The Comets didn't take long in the second quarter to even things up as Stephen Paterson collected a Wave cross into the box and immediately threw the ball out to a racing Guerrero Pino who held off his defender and scored to tie the game at two. Just over six minutes into the quarter the Comets had their second lead of the game as KC got a nice goal from Flores as he received the ball near the yellow line, turned with space and fired a shot in off the far post to put the Comets up 3-2. Late in the quarter again though the Comets defense let them down as the Wave scored three times in the final four minutes, one with just four seconds left to take a 5-3 lead into half time.

The third quarter saw the Comets cut into the lead again early as a Brian Harris shot was deflected into the net by a Wave defender to cut the lead to 5-4. The Comets continued to push for the equalizer but couldn't find it and in the final minute of the period the Wave restored their two goal lead. The Comets continued the pressure in the fourth quarter, trying to create another fourth quarter comeback as they've done a few times during this winning streak, but the Comets couldn't create much in the way of good opportunities. In the final minute though the Comets cut the lead back to a single goal as Harris scored his second goal of the season blasting a shot so hard it went through the net into the stands leading to a moment of confusion before the goal was confirmed. Unfortunately the Comets couldn't find the tying goal, instead giving up one more goal via the sixth attacker as they pushed for an equalizer ending the game losing 7-5.

It won't be the final time these teams meet though as they'll meet again in the playoffs. The Comets can still win the division with a win over the Cedar Rapids Rampage next week or a loss by the Wave at home against Chicago. If the two teams end with equal records the Wave would win the division by virtue of the better head to head record between the two teams.

Comets Stats

Brian Harris' two goals and Lucas Rodriguez's one gives them both 78 goals in all competitions for the Comets, tying them for fourth all time on that list.

Harris made his 138th league appearance and 160th in all competitions for the Comets, giving him sole possession of second place all time on both those lists.

Robert Palmer made his 100th appearance in all competitions for the Comets, he's the 10th player to hit that mark.