COMETS NET BIG WIN AT HOME OVER UTICA CITY
The Kansas City Comets triumphed 9-6 tonight against Utica City FC in Silverstein Eye Centers Arena. James Togbah lead the Comets in scoring with 3 goals and 1 assist.
Just under six minutes into the match, Togbah beat Utica goalkeeper Andrew Coughlin and pulled the Comets ahead 1-0 with an unassisted goal.
Keeper Mark Saxby’s first start of the season helped the Comets defense hold City FC scoreless through the first period. Saxby earned 7 saves in his season debut.
Utica City evened the score with 11 minutes left in the second period, when Darren Toby found Joey Tavernese for the tying goal.
Three minutes later, Lucas Rodriguez buried a shot into the back of the net on an assist from Anthony Grant, retaking the lead for the Comets.
With 1:45 remaining in the half, City FC’s Stephen Deroux received a blue card for a reckless tackle, putting the Comets in a power play for the remainder of the half. Kansas City couldn’t convert on the power play, but nevertheless entered the locker room with a 2-1 lead.
The second half began with Utica holding out to successfully kill the last 15 seconds of penalty time, but seven seconds later Rodriguez found Kiel Williams for a goal to extend the Comets lead to 3-1.
Williams tacked on another goal three minutes later, assisted by Leo Gibson to add a third goal tot the deficit.
Adam James was called for a foul with just under four minutes left in the third, but Kansas City defended the restart and James broke ran down a long pass from Bryan Perez to strike the ball high into the net.
A minute later, the Comets were awarded a shootout when Coughlin was called for handling.
Gibson’s initial shot came up short, but Kansas City regrouped and Gibson found Togbah for another goal, bringing their lead to 6-1.
Utica’s scoring drought ended with just under a minute to play in the third quarter, as Ben Ramin collected his own rebounded shot to chip the ball over Saxby. With the scoreboard reading 6-2 in their favor, the Comets would enter the fourth quarter.
City FC went on the attack early in the fourth. Bo Jelovac found Ben Ramin for a goal, cutting the Comets’ lead to 6-3.
Kansas City answered with 6:40 left in regulation, as Robert Palmer found Perez to take advantage of an empty Utica net. Two minutes passed before Nacho Flores passed to Gibson for another empty net goal.
Utica responded with a 3-0 run over the span of a 90 seconds starting with an unassisted goal from Jelovac.
Twenty seconds later, Tavernese found Ben Ramin for another goal. The Tavernese scored the third goal of the run himself, assisted by Slavisa Ubiparipovic. The lead had been cut to 8-6 with 1:24 remaining in regulation.
The Comets were able to hold out for the remainder of the match, buffered by a long, slow-rolling goal from Togbah on an empty net.
With tonight’s win, Kansas City returned to a .500 record of 5-5. They will have the chance to improve to a winning record for the first time this season when they host the Mississauga MetroStars on January 27 at 4:05 p.m. CT.
MASL Match Report
Match: Kansas City Comets vs Utica City FC
Date: January 20, 2019
Venue: SIlverstein Eye Centers Arena, Independence, MO
Kickoff: 7:05 p.m. CT / 8:05 p.m. ET
Scoring Summary
Goals | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | Kansas City Comets | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 9 |
Utica City FC | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |