Kansas City Comets beat Milwaukee

Stefan Mijatovic celebrates after scoring a goal in the Kansas City Comets' 9-6 victory over the Milwaukee Wave Friday night at Cable Dahmer Arena. Mijatovic added three assists as the Comets ended a three-game losing streak to improve to 14-4-2 on the season. Photo courtesy Kansas City Comets/David Rainey


by Bill Althaus, Grain Valley News 

A gritty, determined Kansas City Comets team arrived at Cable Dahmer Arena Friday night with one collective goal - WIN!

The Comets were riding a three-game losing streak and had lost two previous games this season to longtime rival Milwaukee, but a complete team effort helped Kansas City claim a thrilleding 9-6 victory over the Wave.

It was the ninth consecutive win over the Wave at Cable Dahmer Arena.

With Rian Marques - who is among league leaders in scoring, goals and assists - on the sidelines with a lower body injury - Leo Acosta, Mikey Lenis and Henry Ramirez scored second-half goals, while Phillip Ejimadu stood tall in the net to pick up a much-needed victory.

The Comets have defeated the Wave nine games in a row at Cable Dahmer Arena, and could see Milwaukee in the first round of the Ron Newman Cup playoffs in San Diego.

"This is a big win, an important win," Comets coach Stefan Stokic said. "To be able to win, while missing some of our top players and without our top goalscorer is huge. A lot of things are not going our way. We'll just keep on going and keep on pushing."

Stefan Mijatovic's four-point performance earned him a curtain call before the night's conclusion as the top star. The new acquisition showed his quality all game long against the Wave.

"I am so happy in Kansas City," Mijatovic said, as she signed autographs for fans. "We want to win a championship, and we showed what kind of team we are tonight. This was so much fun, so exciting!"

For the first time since March 1, the Comets grabbed a lead when Mijatovic scored his first goal as a Comet, using his big frame to hold off a defender and guide his header past the keeper 2:29 into the game. The lead only lasted a few minutes before Mario Alvarez equalized for the Wave.

The Wave added another two more in the second quarter to take a 3-1 lead, but Lucas Sousa fired one across the face of goal that bounced in to make it 3-2. Just four seconds later, Salvador Nunez restored Milwaukee's two-goal advantage.

After going down 4-2, the Comets flipped the switch. They scored two more in the half, one coming from a Mijatovic effort that was slammed home by Junior Kazeem. The other came off the foot of Leo Acosta, sneaking it in at the near post with 2:04 left in the half.

The Comets made it three without an answer when Acosta scored the only goal of the third period, squeezing another past the keeper's near post to put KC up 5-4. Milwaukee found the equalizer for a second time just 19 seconds into the fourth from Alex Sanchez.

"It was a back-and-forth game, and we never gave up," Acosta said. "We are missing some key players, and tonight was a team victory - everyone contributed."

Looking for an answer, the Comets erupted in response with four goals the rest of the quarter. Michael Lenis, Henry Ramirez and Lucas Sousa each tallied goals to make it 8-5 KC. Ramirez's goal came after a creative wallascora pass off board from Junior Kazeem for the game-winner.

"Junior deserves all the credit for my goal," Ramirez said. "We needed this win. You don't want to go into the postseason with a losing streak, and now, we hope to win our remaining (four games) and go to the playoffs with a lot of confidence."

Milwaukee's Alvarez cut into the lead, scoring with 6:03 left to play to make it a two-score game. The Comets defense stepped up when it needed and Christian Anderaos finished the game off with a last-second effort against six attackers.

While the Comets were out shot 45-33, the Comets' defense got 28 blocks and stayed out of the penalty box.

Chad Vandegriffe, who leads the league with 63 blocked shots, was an unsung hero on the Comets defensive front as MASL icons Ian Bennett (one goal) and all-time MASL scoring icon Franck Tayou (one assist) were not factors for the 11-7-2 Wave.

"This is big - two playoff contenders going at it for the third time this season," Vandegriffe said. "They got us the first two games this season and we were out to get a big win for our organization and our fans. Our fans were amazing tonight. They willed us to victory."

Ejimadu agreed, adding, "We took our last two losses (against Milwaukee) personal, and we came in tonight with one goal - to get a win. And we were able to do it. What a great night!"

As the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard clock, Mijatovic found a wide-open Christian Anderaos near the net. He scored as 3,840 fans roared with approval.

The Comets moved 8 points clear of fourth-place Baltimore, who has three games in hand. Kansas City will close the regular season in Baltimore in what could be a critical game to decide playoff seeding.