STARS SHOOT PAST COMETS, 6-5 IN OVERTIME

INDEPENDENCE, MO. – The Stars (1-0) scored four straight second half goals to override a three-goal deficit and beat the Kansas City Comets (1-4) by a 6-5 overtime final Friday night at Cable Dahmer Arena. Cory Keitz and Vini Dantas each had a pair of goals in the winning effort.

Aside from the game-winning goal in overtime, the only other time Tacoma held a lead was after the first goal of the game. Following a blue card to Kansas City keeper Nicolau Neto for handling outside the box, Nick Perera was awarded a shoot-out. Neto made the initial save but Adrian Correa was in the right spot at the right time for a rebound goal putting Tacoma up 1-0 with 9:16 to go in the first.

After that, it looked like Kansas City’s night starting with Alvaro Beltran’s first of two goals in the game, this one less than a minute after Correa’s to knot the game 1-1. On the power-play following a blue card to Stars keeper Chris Toth, also for handling outside the box, Adam James connected with Ray Lee for a KC goal and a 2-1 lead after 15 minutes of play.

James also assisted on the next Comets goal, which took just 16 seconds into the second quarter for Hector Solorio to give Kansas City a 3-1 edge. The Comets’ fourth consecutive goal was Nick McDonald’s first of the season, assisted by Leo Gibson. Dantas, in his first game as a Tacoma Star, notched his first goal with an assist to Pablo Da Silva to send the teams to the locker room with Kansas City in from 4-2.

Beltran’s second of the game gave the Comets their second three-goal lead, 5-2, with 10:21 to go in the third. The Stars would score the remaining goals.

Perera fired a power play rocket into the upper right-hand corner, assisted by Da Silva and the third quarter finished with Kansas City up by a 5-3 tally.

The first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter passed and it appeared time was running out on Tacoma. They pulled Danny Waltman, who started the second half in goal for the Stars, in favor of Da Silva in the team’s sixth attacker position. With the man advantage, Mike Ramos slid a pass to Dantas, who cut the Comets lead to one at 5-4 with 2:29 to go.

The Stars sixth attacker was neutralized when the team was issued a blue card for too many men on the field, setting up the Comets with a power play for the final 1:50 of the fourth.

Enter Cory Keitz. Keitz scored a pair of goals at Cable Dahmer Arena during the 2020 MASL All-Star Game in December, and he would score a pair of goals tonight as well. The first was assisted by Ramos only 19 second into the Kansas City power play. That shorthanded goal leveled the match at 5-5 and that’s how regulation play ended.

Much like the beginning of the fourth quarter, the first part of the extra frame was very evenly played with each team trying to get a good look at the goal. With 2:58 on the clock, Dantas connected with Keitz for the game-winning goal by the 6-5 final. Dantas finished his Stars debut with three points (2G-1A) on the night.

Tacoma will travel east on I-70 for a Sunday matchup with the 2-2 St. Louis Ambush at 3:05 pm PST. You can catch every minute of that match right here - https://www.facebook.com/MASLsoccer/events

SCORING SUMMARY

1st – TAC Correa (Perera) 5:44 PP; KC Beltran 6:21; KC Lee (James) 13:49 PP. Penalties – KC Neto blue card (handling) 5:41; TAC Toth blue card (handling) 11:54.

2nd – KC Solorio (James) 0:16; KC McDonald (Gibson) 8:23; TAC Dantas (Da Silva) 10:05. Penalties – KC Solorio blue card (tripping) 3:32.

3rd – KC Beltran (Gibson) 4:41; TAC Perera (Da Silva) 9:19 PP. Penalties – KC Kelly blue card (holding) 8:35; KC Lee blue card (tripping) 13:31.

4th – TAC Dantas (Ramos) 12:31; TAC Keitz (Ramos) 13:29 SH. Penalties – TAC blue card (too many men) 13:10.

OT – TAC Keitz (Dantas) 7:02. Penalties – none.

Shots – Tacoma 10-7-7-9-3 (36), Kansas City 8-8-8-7-1 (32)