Wave cruise past Comets, win season series

The Kansas City Comets suffered their third defeat of the season to the Milwaukee Wave as Ian Bennett terrorized the Comets yet again by adding four goals to his name.

A second straight game without Ray Lee (expected to sign in USL), Ray Saari (Energy FC), and Matt Lewis (trial with Detroit City FC) the Comets were also without Robert Kelly, who is out for a minimum of 6-8 weeks with a broken fibula.

Max Ferdinand and Isaac Pereyra scored for the Wave to give them a 2-0 advantage in the first quarter. Ian Bennett added a third for the Wave early in the second period with a nice run, placing his shot over Neto, who had setup low. Kiel Williams put the Comets on the board after his shot was redirected in off a Wave defender. Bennett added his second of the night for Milwaukee after he reacted the most accordingly following Nicolau Neto’s save as the Wave entered halftime with a 4-1 lead.

Stuart Grable and Isaac Pereyra scored early in the third quarter to extend the Wave lead to 6-1. The Comets got their second goal after John Sosa and Leo Gibson combined nicely to make it 6-2 midway through the third quarter, but Max Ferdinand made it 7-2 after converting a penalty.

Luan Oliviera scored 16 seconds into the fourth quarter off a restart assisted by Marcio Leite. Kiel Williams responded quickly to score his second of the season with a nice finish past the keeper to make it 8-3 with Mirko Sandivari recording his third assist of the season. Ian Bennett finished his tenth regular season hat trick against the Comets to make it 9-3. Marcio Leite put the Wave into double digits with a nice goal against the Comets sixth attacker. Andre Hayne scored, but Leo Gibson and Kevin Ellis each scored a consolation before Bennett added a third for the Wave to put the final scoreline at 12-5.

The Comets drop back to .500 with a 7-7 record while the Wave improve to 9-3 and with just one game remaining this season against the Comets, Milwaukee have officially taken the season series against Kansas City for the third consecutive season. Unsurprisingly, the Rochester Lancers weren’t able to beat the Baltimore Blast, but the St. Louis Ambush did help the Comets playoff hopes with a win over the Harrisburg Heat.

This loss isn’t really a surprise considering the Comets played with a short lineup on short rest against one of the best teams in the MASL. The referees called a consistent, extremely tight game that benefited both sides at times. Leo Gibson added two more points to push his league-leading point total to 43.

The Comets now travel to Wichita to renew a historic rivalry with the Wichita Wings on Sunday in an exhibition at Hartman Arena with a 5:00 PM CT kickoff. Sunday’s exhibition should be more competitive than there preseason meeting in Kansas City, which ended in a 10-2 Comets victory as some of the Wings roster was made up of local talent. Since then, the Wings have posted a 6-2 record in M2 and have been led by former Comet players Bryan Perez, Kevin Ten Eyck, and Steven Hamersky. The Comets will field a developmental side while the first team heads back to Kansas City, and it appears that there will not be a stream for the game. The Comets return to MASL action when they host the St. Louis Ambush next Sunday.