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The Kansas City Comets outshined the Mississauga MetroStars Thursday evening, winning 12-6 over the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) expansion side. This was the Comets first trip to the outskirts of Toronto and their second road game to open the season.
The Comets perhaps needed to shake off the travel fatigue or the MetroStars were excited to try to get their second win of the young season. In either case Mississauga got the jump on the Comets, scoring their first just five minutes into the match.
The home side doubled their lead when KC keeper Brett Petricek was called for using his hands outside the box on a save. The resulting penalty shootout was good for the MetroStars right before the end of the first quarter.
It did not take long for the Comets to start clawing their way on top. With the Comets starting to dominate the play, it took less than a minute-and-half into the second quarter for veteran Leo Gibson to set up Adam James for a goal. It was then James turn to assist Nacho Flores a few minutes later to level it at 2-2 and kick off a flurry of goals.
Former MLS and Canadian National team star Dwayne De Rosario quickly put the home team back on top twenty seconds later. Nacho again responded when John Sosa fed him to level it again with the third goal in less than a minute.
As the game went on, the experienced Comets played their game and started to school the talented but new to indoor soccer MetroStars. The Comets added four more goals (James Togbah, Bryan Perez, Ray Lee and Stefan Stokic) in the second quarter to go to half time with a comfortable 7-3 lead.
Managing the game
The second half was more about the experienced Comets managing the game well than anything else. Due to international travel rules, the Comets were unable to bring a large portion of their team. Robert Palmer, Ramone Palmer, Anthony Grant, Kiel Williams, Gui Gomes, Odaine Sinclair, Tim Kloster and Mriko Sandivari were amongst the players unable to travel for one reason or another.
With missing that many players, and the travel, and having a couple of newly signed reserve players with them, the Comets played it smart and controlled the rest of the game.
In the third quarter the two teams traded goals making it 8-4 in favor of the Comets headed into the fourth quarter.
Again the Comets demonstrated their experience and depth against a talented team lacking in indoor experience and cohesion.
Both Gibson and Nacho scored twice in the fourth quarter, doubling up Mississauga’s pair of goals to keep it out of reach while not overworking the veterans.
Good Performance
Overall, with the exception of the first few minutes of the first quarter, the Comets were the better team. Even the local announcers were commenting about Kansas Cit schooling the home team.
Leo Gibson led the way with 3 goals and 3 assists while Adam James notched 1 goal with 3 assists and nacho Flores found the back of the net 4 times.
The Comets move to a 1-1 record after dropping the first match in Milwaukee.