KC Comets win playoff slugfest against Florida Tropics, can close out series Saturday
The Comets’ quest for the Ron Newman Cup took another big step forward Saturday night at Cable Dahmer Arena, where KC beat the Florida Tropics 8-7 in game one of their semifinal series.
The Comets can wrap up the series in game 2 next Saturday at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Florida. The game begins at 5 p.m. Central Time and will be televised on the MASLtv Twitch channel: www.twitch.tv/masl_soccer.
Some 3,058 saw the Comets win Saturday in Independence. It was the Tropics’ first loss of the playoffs.
Ray Lee netted a hat trick for the Comets and Nicolau Neto won his third game of the postseason in goal.
Lee started the scoring with 8:16 left in the first quarter. James Togbah doubled the Comets lead with 4:31 remaining in the first quarter. The Tropics scored two quick goals and it was 2-2 after the opening period.
The teams combined for seven goals in the second quarter. Kiel Williams scored the first of his three goals in the period to give the Tropics a 3-2 lead less than a minute into the frame.
Togbah then launched a left-footed missile from the right side to tie it again with 10:04 to go until halftime.
Williams’ second goal put Florida back in front 4-3 about a minute after Togbah’s.
The next two goals belonged to the Comets. First, off a pass from Leo Gibson, Lee executed two step-overs and beat Navarrete top-shelf. Then, John Sosa sent a wall-pass to a wide-open Lucas Sousa on the left side for a tap-in.
KC led 5-4, but the back-and-forth momentum of the game swung the Tropics’ way again. Florida scored two more quick goals for a 6-5 halftime advantage.
When play resumed, Gibson and Lee connected on a nifty give-and-go that resulted in Lee’s third goal and a 6-6 game with 11:32 to go in the third.
The Tropics retook the lead 7-6 with 6:18 left in the penultimate quarter. But it was tied again when Lesia Thetsane pounded a header into the net.
In the fourth quarter, after the Comets held strong on a Florida power play, Lee stole the ball and fed to Rian Marques for the game-winner.
Attention now shifts to wrapping up the semifinal victory and advancing to the finals. Game dates and times for the final series are expected to be released by the MASL after the conclusion of the Chihuahua-San Diego series on April 24.
This story was originally published April 16, 2022 at 9:50 PM with the headline "KC Comets win playoff slugfest against Florida Tropics, can close out series Saturday."