COMETS COMPLETE WEEKEND SWEEP OF DALLAS WITH 13-4 WIN

by Pete Richmire

INDEPENDENCE, MO. – The Kansas City Comets (5-4) won their fourth straight game, and for the second time in as many games reached double-digit goal production. They defeated the Dallas Sidekicks (1-7) by a 13-4 margin Sunday evening at Cable Dahmer Arena to raise season winning percentage above .500 for the first time this campaign.

As they did Friday, the Sidekicks got off to a quick start and took the lead on Anthony Powell’s third goal of the season with an assist by Oscar Romero, putting Dallas up 1-0 with 8:06 to go in the 1^st quarter. Kansas City responded by registering the next four goals. Leo Gibson held off a Dallas defender then spun to his right and fired home an unassisted goal to tie the game 1-1 with 56 seconds remaining in the opening frame.

10 seconds after the goal, Mike DaSilva picked up a blue card for boarding, giving Dallas a power play opportunity, but it would be the Comets who would score. With 22 seconds to go in the quarter, Matt Lewis knocked in a short-handed marker, which was his fourth goal of the season putting the Comets up 2-1 after 15 minutes of play.

Under two minutes into the 2^nd quarter, Kevin Ellis slid a pass from the right side to the far post where Adam James was waiting and sent the ball past Dallas keeper Sanaldo Carvalho for his 10^th of the season. Shortly after that goal, John Sosa found a loose ball in front of the Dallas goal and scored making it a 4-1 Kansas City lead with 12:51 still to go in the half.

Felipe De Sousa responded quickly for the Sidekicks on his first of three goals in the game, but that was not it for the rapid goal scoring. Ellis stole a Dallas pass in their end and ran up the left side for an easy goal and the teams combined for four goals in less than three minutes of playing time. After the dust settled, the Comets held a 5-2 lead and that was how the first half of play ended.

Faster than they scored in the 2^nd quarter, James chipped a pass to DaSilva across the box and he used a header to give Kansas City a 6-2 advantage with 13:23 to play in the 3^rd. Again, it was De Sousa who answered for the Sidekicks, assisted by Lipe Adrade, cutting the Comets lead to just three, at 6-3. That was as close as Dallas would come the rest of the game.

Comets starting keeper Lou Misner came off his line to feed Sosa on a breakaway. Sosa connected with Rian Marques for the score and a 7-3 K.C. lead. The next assist was from Dominic Francis who sent a rocket off the boards and Lucas Sousa was waiting at the yellow line. Sousa barely moved and sent a low shot into the back of the net to stretch the lead to 8-3 with 4:10 on the clock in the 3^rd.

The final goal of the quarter was Lewis’ second of the game for the Comets when he took a pass from Ramone Palmer and sent a shot past the Sidekicks keeper who was rushing out to cut off the shooting angle. The teams headed to the final 15 minutes of play with the Comets holding a six-goal lead at 9-3.

1:10 into the 4^th quarter, it was a 10-3 score as Marques stole the ball from Dallas and found a wide-open net for his 11^th goal of the year. 12 seconds later it was Andrade again for Dallas who found De Sousa for his third of the game and a 10-4 score with 13:38 left to play.

The Sidekicks brought on their sixth attacker and Kansas City took advantage of the open goal quickly. Ray Lee assisted on James’ second of the contest and 23 seconds after that, Palmer got in behind the Dallas defense for the empty net goal and a 12-4 Comets lead.

DaSilva closed out scoring in the game with his second of the night by taking a rebound off the wall and directing it to the back of the net for his fourth of the season. That goal reached the 13-4 final with 6:51 remaining. Things got chippy at times towards the end of the game, but cooler heads stayed in control and the game ended without incident.

It does set up an interesting matchup on Sunday March 14, when the Sidekicks return to Cable Dahmer Arena on the final day of the 2021 regular season. Tickets for that match are available through Ticketmaster or by calling (888) 9-COMETS.

SCORING SUMMARY

1^st – DAL Powell (Romero) 1:54; KC Gibson 14:04; KC Lewis SH 14:38. Penalties – KC DaSilva blue card (boarding) 14:14.

2^nd– KC James (Ellis) 1:43; KC Sosa (Marques) 2:09; DAL De Sousa (Varela) 3:46; KC Ellis 4:26. Penalties – DAL Jones yellow card (delay of game) 13:38

3^rd – KC DaSilva (James) 1:37; DAL De Sousa (Andrade) 6:16; KC Marques (Sosa) 9:33; KC Sousa (Francis) 10:50; KC Lewis (Palmer) 11:39. Penalties – KC James blue card (tripping) 12:27; DAL Bench (bench misconduct) 14:17.

4^th – KC Marques 1:10; DAL De Sousa (Andrade) 1:22; KC James (Lee) 2:00; KC Palmer 2:23; KC DaSilva 8:09. Penalties – None.

Shots – Kansas City 5-5-7-9 (26); Dallas 3-6-8-7 (24)

The Comets are off next week but return on March 6 to host the Tacoma Stars at 6:05 pm CST. The Ontario Fury come to Cable Dahmer Arena the next night, March 7 with a 5:05 pm CST start time. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster or by calling (888) 9-COMETS.