Did the Kansas City Comets hit a turning point late in rivalry loss to Milwaukee?
The Kansas City Comets fell 8-7 to the Milwaukee Wave on Sunday, Jan. 11, but their fourth-quarter rally has given them reason for hope moving forward.
The Comets had entered the fourth quarter trailing 6-5 before a pair of Wave goals to open the final quarter created a three-goal deficit. But the Comets responded to the disappointment of suddenly going down 8-5 to their biggest rival.
It was one of the weekend’s biggest takeaways.
Just 37 seconds after going down three scores, Zach Reget finished his third hat trick of the season to get the Comets within two. Rian Marques pulled another back, making it an 8-7 game with about half a quarter still to play.
Despite some promising opportunities late, the equalizer never came as the Comets fell to a third consecutive defeat.
“We need to grow from this game,” Comets head coach Stefan Stokic said. “We cannot give away as many goals as we have. Right now, we’ve got to finalize the defensive side of it.”
The Comets’ defense aims to hold opponents under four goals per game, but has conceded five or more in each of the last four games. Despite the team’s frustration with not getting the desired results, there is no panic after the most recent performance.
“Believe it or not, we are good,” Nacho Flores said of the team’s morale. “We fought until the end.”
Following the defeat, the players didn’t hang their heads. Instead, they huddled together and reflected on the good that came out of the defeat.
“We were proud of ourselves and our fight,” Flores said. “Things haven’t gone our way in the last three games, but if we continue playing this way, things will turn around.”
The Comets’ fourth-quarter scorers on Sunday, Reget and Marques, are the two leading scorers in the entire league. Reget is first with 23 points and 16 goals in 11 games, while Marques is second in both categories with 17 points and 12 goals in eight games.
The Comets hope to find some stability in their defensive play as they move into the second half of the season next week. They still have yet to play a complete game where the offense fires on all cylinders and the defense holds opponents under four goals.
The Comets will finish a three-game homestand on Friday, Jan. 16, when they welcome the Tacoma Stars before hitting the road for a meeting with the Wave in Milwaukee on Sunday, Jan. 18. Fans can purchase tickets for Friday’s matchup at kccomets.com/tickets.