Comets run past Ambush

The Kansas City Comets grabbed their second win of the Central Cup behind a strong second-half performance to defeat the St. Louis Ambush 7-3.

Ignacio Flores was out with a sprained ankle. Nicolau Neto, Matt Lewis, Robert Kelly, Rian Marques, Gui Gomes, and Kyle McLagan were also out of the lineup. The Comets added three players fighting to earn a contract: Felipe Abreu, Nick McDonald, and Jose “Ze” Ramos.

Stefan Mijatovic opened the scoring for the Ambush before Hector Solorio scored his first goal as a Comet just before the end of the first quarter. St. Louis restored their one-goal advantage in the second quarter after Duduca Carvalho scored to put the visitors up by one goal at halftime.

The Comets got rolling in the third period when Kevin Ellis and Mirko Sandivari scored to give the Comets their first lead of the game at 3-2. Max Ferdinand scored from a shootout to draw level, but Leo Gibson answered with his first of the year as the Comets headed to the fourth quarter with a 4-3 advantage.

Kansas City secured the result in the fourth quarter with a goal 17 seconds into the final period before Adam James bagged a pair to give the Comets a 7-3 win.

The Comets improved their Central Cup record to 2-0 and seem to get stronger as the game goes on. The Ambush dropped to 0-2 in the tournament and ended their chances of grabbing their first trophy in franchise history.

The Comets will now travel to Wichita on Sunday, where a win would clinch the Central Cup title. With several changes expected, especially after injuries to Felipe Abreu and Mirko Sandivari, goalkeeper Nicolau Neto is expected to get his first opportunity of the season.