Comets claim thrilling road victory in Dallas

by Bill Althaus


DALLAS, Texas - Kansas City Comets forward Zach Reget, who has been playing with a high ankle sprain this season, appreciated his team's 7-6 come-from-behind victory over the Dallas Sidekicks Thursday night at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center.

But a lackluster team performance over the first three quarters left both Reget and coach Stefan Stokic wondering what happened.

The 7-1-2 Comets scored three goals in the final 2:35 of the fourth quarter to top the 3-9-0 Sidekicks, who entered the game undefeated at home.

Nacho Flores scored two of the three goals, including the game-winner with 31 seconds left to play. Reget scored the game-tying goal.

"We have set a high standard for ourselves this season, and we didn't reach it tonight," Reget said. "We had plenty of chances, but we weren't able to put the ball in the back of the net and that's frustrating and irritating.

"But something clicked late in the game and we're coming home with three points. It's hard to win on the road in this league, but we need to put four good quarters together."

After a scoreless first quarter, the Sidekicks opened the scoring just 25 seconds into the second frame. Colin O’Keefe found a loose ball on the doorstep of the goal and tapped it in for his third goal of the season. The Sidekicks led 1-0 with 14:35 to play in the first half.Less than a minute later, Dallas’ Renato Torquato redirected a pass intended for Comets keeper Phillip Ejimadu for a 2-0 Sidekicks lead with 13:41 on the clock.

Kansas City’s first opportunity to score was a Rian Marques shootout attempt which was turned away following a blue card to Sidekicks keeper Parker Lackland. 

Dallas was not able to stop a Comets power play though, as Leo Acosta rifled a shot just under the crossbar to cut the Sidekicks lead to 2-1 with 11:50 remaining.

In the final minute of the half, Junior Kazeem capitalized on a Dallas turnover to tie the game at 2-2 with 11:27 on the clock.

Then David Texeira scored for the Sidekicks giving Dallas a 3-2 lead at the break.

The third quarter was a story of official reviews and Nathan Durdle goals for the Comets. With 8:10 to play in the third, Durdle scored an apparent goal which held up under an extended review to tie the game at 3-3.The second occurrence came with 2:50 to go when a Durdle shot went in under the crossbar but was not called a goal during play. The Comets challenged and Durdle was awarded his second goal of the game and Kansas City took a 4-3 lead into the final 15 minutes of play.

The Comets and Sidekicks used runs and rallies to make the final 15 minutes unforgettable.

The Sidekicks scored the first three goals of the final frame and held a 6-4 lead with 3:22 to play in the game.

That's when Flores scored twice and Reget once give Stokic a little peace of mind.

"Right now, I am exhausted," Stokic said. "But why did we play so poorly for so long? Was it my preparation? That is something I am going to have to reevaluate. We were coming off our biggest win of the season (5-2 against a back-to-back league championship Chihuahua team that had never lost to Kansas City) and we come out and play like we did tonight?

"Unacceptable."

He was thrilled with the play of Durdle, a rookie who also had a goal in the victory against Chihuahua.

"I asked him, 'How do you do it?'" Stokic said. "He's locked in. He does not look like a rookie out there. He's focused and ready for any challenge."

Stokic also praised Flores and goalkeeper Nicolau Neto, who played the final three minutes of the game when Ejimadu was given a yellow card, which placed him in the penalty box.

​Neto, an MASL all-star, has not played much this season because of a nagging lower body injury.
"Nacho and Neto are veteran leaders who proved tonight why they are so valuable to our team," Stokic said. "Nacho's goals were huge and Neto, who has been sidelined much of the season, went into the game and didn't allow a goal. In those last few minutes I saw our mentality shift, and we got the win."