Ellis leads Comets in big second half to defeat SeaWolves

The Kansas City Comets snapped their two game losing streak with a big victory over the Orlando SeaWolves thanks to a big third quarter.

The Comets entered Friday’s game without Ray Saari, Stefan Stokic, and Lucas Rodriguez, but saw the return of goalkeeper Mark Saxby as John Sosa and Adam James were available off the bench, but did not take the field.

Kiel Williams scored his fifth goal of the year to open the scoring in the first quarter. Rodolfo Lopes, who played collegiate soccer at nearby Park University, opened his MASL scoring account against several of his former teammates to equalize for Orlando. Former Comet Odaine Sinclair laced a goal into the top corner against his former team to give the SeaWolves a 2-1 lead.

Ray Lee fired in his sixth goal of the season for Kansas City early in the second period to make it 2-2. Rodrigo Kaufmann and Kiel Williams both exchanged goals to make the score 3-3. Kevin Ellis, who was surprisingly a dangerous aerial threat in his time with Sporting KC, opened his scoring account in his second season with the Comets after Leo Gibson chipped one perfectly to the back post, where Ellis was wide open to nod it in to give Kansas City the 4-3 advantage at halftime.

Robert Kelly scored his first goal of the season in the third period after Ray Lee’s slick play before he scored a goal of his own moments later to open the game up to 6-3 Comets. Ray Lee scored his second of the night after Ignacio Flores’ interception fell perfectly for Lee to squeeze past the keeper. Daniel Jackson scored for Orlando, but Kevin Ellis grabbed his second and third to complete his hat trick to give the Comets an 8-4 lead. Ignacio Flores and Leo Gibson both grabbed goals to end the third quarter with a 10-4 scoreline.

In the final quarter, the misery for Orlando continued as the Comets got two goals from Kevin Ellis to push his game total to five goals with Leo Gibson and Robert Kelly both adding goals to complete their brace. Orlando scored fourth quarter goals Luiz Mota and Jeff Michaud to put the final score at 14-6.

The Kansas City Comets improve to 4-5 overall with a 3-1 home record while the SeaWolves drop to 1-6.

After an impressive first half from the visitors, the Comets hit the accelerator and zoomed quickly past the SeaWolves, who had just two practices under new manager Tom Traxler, with six goals in the third quarter. There really shouldn’t be too much taken from this game, but it was a terrific stat-padder, as Kevin Ellis’ five goals now makes him the team’s third highest scorer after just two games. Leo Gibson added six points with two goals and four assists, while Ignacio Flores quietly put together a solid performance with four assists and a goal. Ray Lee and Kiel Williams also scored braces to add five Comets players with multiple goals on the night.

Comets color commentator Erik Bergrud also broke promising news during the first quarter, as he announced that goalkeeper Nicolau Neto and midfielder Lucas Sousa, who both signed for the Comets in November, should be cleared to play no later than the first of February after dealing with visa issues.

A confident Kevin Ellis and a Comets squad that will be more healthy will look to upset the reigning Ron Newman Cup champions, the Milwaukee Wave, as they host them next Friday at the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena.