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Kansas City Comets

Comets Soar Past Sidekicks 10-6

February 19, 2021 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
Kansas City Comets News Release


Ignacio Flores of the Kansas City Comets vs. the Dallas Sidekicks
Ignacio Flores of the Kansas City Comets vs. the Dallas Sidekicks
(Tacoma Stars)

INDEPENDENCE, MO. - The Kansas City Comets (4-4) picked up their third straight win Friday night as they defeated the Dallas Sidekicks (1-6) by a 10-6 final at Cable Dahmer Arena. With the win, the Comets raise their season winning percentage to .500. Seven different Comets players scored goals including Rian Marques who snagged a hat trick.

It didn't take long for the scoring to start. Dallas' Anthony Powell connected with Oscar Romero just 58 seconds into the game giving the Sidekicks a quick 1-0 lead. The second goal of the game came off the foot of Kansas City's John Sosa, who fired a rocket from 50 plus feet out and beat Dallas keeper Sanaldo Carvalho to tie the game 1-1 with 2:12 to go in the 1st.

Less than a minute later, Carvalho was issued a blue card for a two-footed tackle in the box which also set up a shootout for Kansas City. Dominic Francis, in his first game with the Comets rushed the goal and was initially stopped by Carvalho but followed his shot and sent home the rebound for a 2-1 Comets lead after one quarter.

These two teams who had three goals between them in the first quarter turned up the heat and combined for 12 goals over the next two frames. Dallas scored less than a minute into the game and Kansas City did one better. Leo Gibson fed the 2nd quarter kickoff to Kevin Ellis who took a couple of steps inside the yellow line and let it fly into the back of the net, four seconds into the quarter.

The next KC goal wasn't quite as fast, but Ignacio Flores put an unassisted goal on the board giving the Comets a 4-1 with 10:31 still to play in the first half. Shootouts are not a common occurrence but there was one in the first quarter, and then one in the second. Comets keeper Nicolau Neto was shown a blue card for tripping and it was the Sidekicks' turn. Neto was equal to the task on the shootout but not the Dallas power play. Freddy Moojen scored the marker with 9:28 remaining and the Comets lead was two, at 4-2.

Carvalho faced several long-range shots from Kansas City and Ray Lee sent a missile his way from the yellow line that gave the Comets a three-goal lead again, 5-2. Shortly after that goal, Lucas Sousa fed the ball to Marques who after a couple of touches sent in a goal from just outside the top of the arc and it was 6-2 KC halfway through the 2nd.

The final goal of the half was Romero's second for Dallas with only 17 seconds to go. At the break, the Comets led 6-3 and had a 29-13 shot advantage. By the end of the contest that margin would be just three at 37-34.

Kansas City stretched their lead to four with 13:09 to go in the 3rd when Mike DaSilva redirected an Adam James pass into the goal from the middle of the goalkeeper box. Dallas answered with back-to-back unassisted goals from Felipe de Sousa and Julio Varela to make it a 7-5 Comets lead with 9:00 left in the quarter.

It was the Comets' turn to go back-to-back, first by Francis who slid a low shot past Carvalho to the far corner, and then Marques who chipped in a soft shot from the top of the box and with 1:53 to go in the 3rd, Kansas City led 9-5. Refusing to go down easily, Dallas scored again on De Sousa's second of the game and the teams headed to the final quarter with a 9-6 Kansas City lead on the scoreboard.

The quietest quarter of the game was the last, not by the Sidekicks' choice. They out-shot the Comets by a 13-2 margin in the final 15 minutes of play. The only goal, however, was Marques' third of the game on a one-timer off Ramone Palmer's pass with 12:51 to go. It was the Kansas City's defense that shined the rest of the way as Dallas pulled their keeper in favor for a sixth attacker with over 12 minutes still to go. That combined with two Comets blue cards put pressure on the Comets, but they held Dallas scoreless the rest of the way.

With his hat trick, Marques tied James for the team lead in goals scored with nine each. James is tops in scoring on the squad now with 12 point to Marques and Gibson's 10.

These same teams will meet at Cable Dahmer Arena on Sunday with a 5 pm CST start time.

SCORING SUMMARY

1st - DAL Romero (Powell) 0:58; KC Sosa 12:48; KC Francis PP 13:21. Penalties - DAL Carvalho blue card (two-footed tackle) 13:14.

2nd - KC Ellis (Gibson) 0:04; KC Flores 4:29; DAL Moojen (Varela) PP 5:32; KC Lee (DaSilva) 6:52; KC Marques (Sousa) 7:10; DAL Romero (Moojen) 14:43. Penalties - KC Neto blue card (tripping) 4:49; DAL Bench yellow card (delay of game) 12:06.

3rd - KC DaSilva (James) 1:51; DAL De Sousa 5:33; Varela 6:00; KC Francis (Sosa) 11:55; KC Marques (Lewis) 13:07; DAL De Sousa (Piedra) 13:55. Penalties - none.

4th - KC Marques (Palmer) 2:09. Penalties - KC Ellis blue card (pushing) 6:28; KC Gibson blue card (boarding) 3:05.

Shots - Kansas City 18-11-6-2 (37); Dallas 3-10-8-13 (34)

Kansas City and the Dallas Sidekicks will meet again on Sunday the 21st at 5:00 pm. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster or by calling (888) 9-COMETS.

Check out the Kansas City Comets Statistics




Images from this story

Leo Gibson Of the Kansas City Comets vs. the Dallas Sidekicks
Leo Gibson Of the Kansas City Comets vs. the Dallas Sidekicks
 Kansas City Comets vs. the Dallas Sidekicks
Kansas City Comets vs. the Dallas Sidekicks
 Ignacio Flores of the Kansas City Comets vs. the Dallas Sidekicks
Ignacio Flores of the Kansas City Comets vs. the Dallas Sidekicks

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