COMETS WIN IN OT, SWEEP WAVE, AND ARE ON TO FINALS
INDEPENDENCE, MO. – The Comets (4-0-0) withstood a huge comeback by Milwaukee consisting of seven fourth quarter goals by the visitors, to defeat the Wave 8-7 in overtime to sweep the Eastern Conference Finals in front of 3,837 fans at Cable Dahmer Arena Monday night.
The teams appeared to be heading toward a scoreless first quarter until Lucas Sousa sent a pass high off the back glass and Christian Anderaos was able to one-time a shot past a diving William Banahene to give the Comets a 1-0 lead with just nine seconds left to play in the opening frame. Milwaukee was able to escape the quarter giving up the lone goal despite being outshot by the Comets 13-2.
Kansas City doubled their lead to 2-0 on Sousa’s second point of the evening. This time, he was on the goal-scoring end of a hard pass off the side boards during an odd-man rush from Michael Lenis with 8:36 left in the first half.
Sousa struck again before the end of the half on a shootout following a blue card to Milwaukee’s Ricardo Carvalho for tripping on a Comets’ breakaway. Sousa scored his second goal of the game by shooting through the outstretched arms of Banahene to run the score to 3-0 with 3:56 to play in the second quarter. The teams went to the locker room at the break with that score.
The Comets picked up where they left off in the third quarter. With Milwaukee playing a tight defense, Rian Marques laid off a perfect heel pass to Ramone Palmer who was streaking into the box and promptly slammed the ball into the back of the net for a 4-0 lead with 10:35 to play in the third.
Marques was the next to score for Kansas City. Chad Vandegriffe pounced on a giveaway deep in Milwaukee’s own zone and directed the ball to Ramone Palmer, who found Marques for the 5-0 goal with 3:22 remaining in the third.
The Wave went to their sixth attacker just seconds into the final quarter and it led to Kansas City’s sixth goal of the game. With Banahene headed to the bench to bring on the sixth attacker, Anderaos turned on a loose ball and one-timed a shot from past midfield into the empty net to make it 6-0 with 13:29 to go in the fourth.
Things took a turn at that point.
Milwaukee rattled off the next seven goals to take a 7-6 lead with 1:06 to play in regulation. Derek Huffman notched a hat trick in the final quarter alone, along with goals by Carvalho, Ian Bennett, Max Ferdinand, and Mario Alvarez to make a Knockout Game likely. At one point, the Wave scored four goals in a 4:19 time frame.
The Comets scored two late goals to beat the Wave in Game 1 and needed a similar outcome to force overtime. They got that on a sixth attacker goal by Robert Palmer to tie the game at 7-7 with 34 seconds left in regulation.
Milwaukee stayed with the sixth attacker following their success in the fourth quarter and it cost them the game as Anderaos once again found a loose ball at midfield and drove in against two Wave defenders to find the back of the net for the game-winning goal.
The Comets will face the Chihuahua Savage in the Ron Newman Cup Finals. For game and ticket information, stay tuned to www.kccomets.com.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st – KC Anderaos (Sousa) 14:51. Penalties – None.
2nd – KC Sousa (Lenis) 6:24; KC Sousa 11:07 shootout. Penalties – MKE Carvalho (bc- tripping) 11:04.
3rd – KC Ra. Palmer (Marques) 4:25; KC Marques (Ra. Palmer) 11:38. Penalties – None.
4th – KC Anderaos 1:31; MKE Huffman 1:52; MKE Carvalho (Alvarez) 3:33 six attackers; MKE Bennett (Ferdinand) 4:05 six attackers; MKE Huffman (Ferdinand) 6:17 pp; MKE Huffman (Ferdinand) 9:41 six attackers; MKE Alvarez 10:52 six attackers; MKE Ferdinand 13:54 six attackers; KC Ro. Palmer (Ra. Palmer) 14:26 six attackers. Penalties – KC Reget (bc- four fouls in a half) 6:07; KC Flores (bc- holding) 10:16; MKE Nunez (rc- six fouls in a game) 13:21.
OT – KC Anderaos 3:42 en. Penalties – None.
Power Play – Comets 0/1, Milwaukee 2/2
Penalty Minutes – Comets 4, Milwaukee 2
Fouls – Comets 24, Milwaukee 20
Shots – Comets 38, Milwaukee 38
Attendance – 3,837