Kansas City Comets Weekly

January 13, 2004 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Kansas City Comets News Release


The Kansas City Comets split a pair of weekend games, with a win against Philadelphia and a loss in Cleveland, and the team enters the week with a 6-11 record. The Comets are in second place in the Central Division, seven and a half games behind the leading Milwaukee Wave and one and a half games ahead of the third place St. Louis Steamers.

The Comets took on the Philadelphia KiXX on Saturday, January 10 at Kemper Arena and beat the KiXX 6-5 in overtime. Philadelphia led 1-0 after one quarter, but the Comets tied it up 2-2 before halftime. Kansas City held Philadelphia scoreless in the third quarter and added two goals by Dino Delevski for a 4-3 lead after three quarters. The Comets are 5-1 when leading after three quarters. Philadelphia rallied back in the fourth quarter and Pat Morris tied the game at 11:42 to put the game into overtime.

Philadelphia never got an opportunity to put a shot on net, and the Comets pulled out an overtime win with Wes Wade's goal at 4:21 in overtime. Jeff Davis recorded the assist. Kansas City is now 3-1 in overtime games.

Jeff Davis and Dino Delevski led the Comets with four points each. Brian Soell led the Kansas City defense with three blocks.

On Sunday, January 11, the Comets traveled to the Cleveland to take on the Cleveland Force. The close game featured high scoring for both sides and multiple lead changes. The game was tied at scores of 1-1, 3-3, 6-6, 7-7 and 8-8.

The Force tied the game 8-8 at 8:42 in the fourth quarter after a goal by Chris Dore. The club then took the lead with a goal by Hector Marinaro at 11:07. The Comets put in sixth attacker Wes Wade but were unable to create more offense. Cleveland added another goal before the final buzzer, and the Force won 10-8.

Vlatko Andonovski had his first three-goal game of the season and led the Comets with three points. Brian Soell and Dino Delevski both recorded two points. Jeff Davis led the defense with four blocks and leads the Comets with 30 blocks on the season.

ODDS AND ENDS:

- Wes Wade scored the game-winning goal in overtime to give the Comets a 6-5 win against Philadelphia on Saturday night. The goal was Wade's 300th goal in his 12th season of indoor soccer. He has played in 404 games, has recorded 447 assists, 422 blocks and 1042 points.

- Matt Tanzini played his 100th game on Sunday, January 11 in Cleveland. For his career in the MISL, Tanzini has recorded 38 goals, 28 assists, 104 points and 94 blocks.

COMING UP FOR THE COMETS:

The Comets resume practice on Tuesday, January 13 at the Kansas City Soccer Dome. Please contact Comets Media Manager Beth Kapp to confirm practice times and locations, as they are subject to change.

The Comets play two weekend games at Kemper Arena. The Central Division leader Milwaukee Wave takes on the Comets at 7:35 p.m. on Friday, January 16. At 7:35 p.m. on Saturday, January 17 the Comets will have a chance to avenge Sunday's loss to the Cleveland Force.

DATE EVENT TIME

Tuesday, January 13 Practice, Soccer Dome 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Wednesday, January 14 Practice, Soccer Dome 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Thursday, January 15 Practice, Soccer Dome 10:00 a.m. -- 12:00 p.m.

Friday, January 16 Game, Kemper Arena 7:35 p.m.

Saturday, January 17 Game, Kemper Arena 7:35 p.m.

COMETS IN THE COMMUNITY:

Kansas City Comets players have three School Is A Kick (SIAK) assemblies this week. Two Comets players will visit St. John La Lande (Blue Springs, MO) on January 13, Ridgeview Elementary (Olathe, KS) on January 14 and Crestview Elementary (Merriam, KS) on January 15. SIAK gives Comets players a chance to talk to students about the importance of hard work, responsibility and respect. Each student also receives a voucher to attend an upcoming Comets home game.

GAME PREVIEWS:

The Comets have two home games this weekend: Friday, January 16 against the Milwaukee Wave and Saturday, January 17 against Cleveland. After Friday's game, the Comets are the Wave will meet four more times before the regular season concludes.

The Comets are 0-2 against Milwaukee so far this season, which includes a 7-4 loss on December 14 at Kemper Arena and a 15-6 loss in Milwaukee. Milwaukee has the most potent offense in the league and produces an average of 6.7 goals per game. Its league-leading defense, led by goalkeeper Dan Green, gives up the fewest goals per game (4.4).

In games against Milwaukee this season, Jamar Beasley and Miodrag Djerisilo lead the Comets with three points each.

Milwaukee players to watch: Greg Howes is first in the MISL scoring race with 38 points. Todd Dusosky, Michael King and Joe Reiniger are also on the leaderboard. Goalkeeper Dan Green leads all goalkeepers with a 3.78 goals against average.

On Saturday, the Comets have a chance to avenge the 10-8 loss they suffered against Cleveland last week in the teams' first meeting this season. Last season, the Comets won three out of four games against Cleveland, which includes a win at Kemper Arena.

Cleveland players to watch: Hector Marinaro and Zoran Karic each recorded four points against Kansas City on Sunday. Lee Edgerton is the only Force player on the scoring leaderboard. He has 14 goals and five assists for 19 points.

COMETS BY THE NUMBERS:

Dino Delevski is currently tied for third place in the scoring race. He is tied with Dallas Sidekick David Doyle with 32 points and trails Monterrey's Genoni Martinez (34 points) and Milwaukee's Greg Howes (38 points).

Kansas City's offense is second in the League at 6.5 goals per game. Defensively, the Comets rank ninth (8.5 goals per game).



Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from January 13, 2004


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