Five-goal second quarter powers Comets past Ambush in game one of quarterfinals

The Kansas City Comets held on to win game one of their quarterfinal series against the St. Louis Ambush by a score of 7-4 on Friday at Cable Dahmer Arena.

Rookie forward Rian Marques led the way for Kansas City with two goals while James Togbah tallied a goal and an assist and Dominic Francis added two assists. The Ambush were led by forward Tony Walls with two assists and goalkeeper Paulo Nascimento with 18 saves.

The Comets grabbed their first lead of the evening in the first quarter with a goal from Rian Marques before the Ambush drew level in the second quarter with a goal from Vadim Cojocov. Kansas City went on to score five consecutive goals in the second quarter, taking a 6-1 lead into halftime.

The Ambush cut the lead down to three with goals from Max Ferdinand and JT Thomas. The Comets extended their lead back to four with a goal against the sixth attacker from Matt Lewis. St. Louis got one more from Felipe Silva as the Comets claimed their first playoff win since 2017.

Friday’s win sends the Comets to St. Louis on Sunday in prime position to win their first playoff series in more than five years. Still, it will not be easy to win on the road in St. Louis, a place where they have lost on their last four visits.

The Ambush will be without defender Johnathan Santos on Sunday after he received a red card on Friday for spitting on Kevin Ellis, but they will get their leading shot-blocker Stefan Mijatovic back from suspension.

The Comets will look to clinch the series on Sunday in game two. If the Ambush win game two, then the series will be decided by a 15-minute minigame after game two’s conclusion.