Missouri Comets beat Milwaukee, will face Baltimore in MASL Eastern Conference finals

Missouri Comets forward Max Touloute lived up to his nickname Sunday.

Dubbed “The Haitian Sensation” — Touloute was born in Les Cayes, Haiti — Touloute scored three goals to lead the Comets to an 8-2 win over Milwaukee at Silverstein Eye Centers Arena and a sweep of the divisional-round Major Arena Soccer League series.

“The team played really well, and we just did what we came out to do,” Touloute said. “On any given day any one of us can score. I was the one who scored the most today, but that doesn’t matter. We got the win. Whoever scores, it doesn’t matter as long as we win.”

Using his sprinter’s speed, Touloute scored on a breakaway early in the second quarter for his first goal, putting the Comets ahead 3-1.

Touloute finished a possession late in the third quarter and had another breakaway midway through the fourth for his other goals.

“We were great on transition tonight. We finished our chances and that was huge,” Comets goalkeeper Boris Pardo said. “Max was amazing. He can turn it on whenever he wants. His speed, his technique, he’s a crazy shot on both feet.”

The Comets, who advance to play Baltimore in the Eastern Conference finals, dominated time of possession the first three quarters, dictating the game’s pace and play.

“If we have the ball we can’t get scored on, so that’s something we try to focus on,” Touloute said. “We want to keep the ball, keep them moving, make them run and make them get tired. We’re going to get our chances because we have so many great players on our team.”

After Milwaukee scored to tie the game at 1-1 early in the first, the Comets scored five straight goals and kept the Wave scoreless for nearly 44 minutes of game time.

“As a team we have matured very well throughout the season,” Comets coach Vlatko Andonovski said. “When we get a lead we rarely let a team get back in the game or get close to us.”

Ramone Palmer, Kevin Ten Eyck, Alain Matingou, John Sosa and Vahid Assadpour all scored for the Comets.

This story was originally published March 13, 2016 at 8:45 PM with the headline "Missouri Comets beat Milwaukee, will face Baltimore in MASL Eastern Conference finals."