Comets Cruise To 8-3 Win At St. Louis To Open Season

The first 25 minutes of play belonged to the Comets as they tallied the first five goals of the game, including four in the first quarter.

The first goal of the 2024-25 MASL season was scored with 8:06 left in the first when Michael Lenis found Leonardo Acosta at the top of the arc. Acosta slid a low shot past Ambush keeper Paulo Nascimento for the 1-0 lead.

Lucas Sousa doubled the Kansas City advantage on a pass from Erik Pereira near midfield by chipping a shot from near midfield over a retreating Nascimento for the 2-0 lead with 5:29 to play in the opening quarter.

The former Ambush member and new Comet, Marcel Berry, picked up a loose ball played by Franck Tayou and scored from short range to make it a 3-0 KC advantage with 3:33 on the clock in the first.

A late goal with 17 seconds left in the frame off the foot of Rian Marques following a spin move inside the box, closed out scoring in the opening quarter with the Comets on top 4-0. Marques’ goal was assisted by Acosta, making him the first player this season with a multi-point first quarter.

St. Louis found the score sheet first in the second quarter, but it was a blue card to Uzi Tayou for tripping which gave the Comets their first power play chance of the season. They made good on it when Acosta sent a pass to Lesia Thetsane who sent a rocket to the upper 90 for a 5-0 KC lead with 6:18 to play in the half.

A newly signed Julio Varela snapped the Comets’ run with an assist by Lucas Almeida to close out scoring in the first half. He sent a low shot to the opposite corner past Ejimadu who got the start in place of Nicolau Neto who is nursing an injury. Ejimadu stopped six of the seven shots he faced in the half.

The first 10 minutes of the third quarter passed uneventfully before the teams combined for five goals in the final five minutes, beginning with Varela’s second of the game for St. Louis, this one assisted by Almeida who finished with three points in the game. The Comets’ lead was cut to 6-2 with 5:02 to go in the third.

With 1:59 to play in the third, Acosta picked up his second goal following a run past Franck Tayou sending a laser into the upper corner to make it a 6-2 Comets’ lead.

Less than a minute later, Almeida notched his first goal of the season to cut the Comets’ lead to three at 6-3. That was as close as St. Louis would come the rest of the way.

A pair of goals 17 seconds apart closed out scoring in the game when Zach Reget and Henry Ramirez found the back of the net for the Comets to push their lead to 8-3 with 4 seconds remaining in the third.

The Ambush found themselves on an abbreviated power play when Lenis was sent to the penalty box on a blue card for tripping with just over a minute to play. However, Kansas City was able to kill the penalty and seal their first win of the season.

A big story in the game was the Comets’ defense, backed by Ejimadu in keeping the MASL’s all-time leading scorer, Franck Tayou off the score sheet. In fact, they limited him to a single shot on goal for the game.

The I-70 series will now shift to Cable Dahmer Arena this Sunday, December 1 at 5:05 pm CST. Get your tickets today for the Comets’ home opener at www.kccomets.com before they sell out.

1st – KC Acosta 1 (Lenis) 6:54; KC Sousa 1 (Pereira) 9:31; KC Berry 1 11:26; KC Marques 1 (Acosta) 14:43. Penalties – None.

2nd – KC Thetsane 1 (Acosta) 8:42 pp; STL Varela 1 (Almeida) 10:05. Penalties – STL U. Tayou (bc- tripping) 6:58.

3rd – STL Varela 2 (Almeida) 9:58; KC Acosta 2 (Ramirez) 13:01; STL Almeida 1 (Hundelt) 13:47; KC Reget 1 (Vandegriffe) 14:39; KC Ramirez 1 (Berry) 14:56. Penalties – None.

4th – None. Penalties – KC Lenis (bc- tripping).

Power Play – Comets 1/1, St. Louis 0/1

Penalty Minutes – Comets 2, St. Louis 2

Fouls – Comets 16, St. Louis 14

Shots – Comets 19, St. Louis 24

Attendance – 2,802