November 26, 2023 – Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) – Kansas City Comets News Release
INDEPENDENCE, MO. – In their only meeting this season, the Comets (1-0-0) tripled up the Wave (1-1-) by a 9-3 final in front of 5,124 fans on Opening Night at Cable Dahmer Arena. Zach Reget netted a first-half hat-trick and John Sosa posted a four-point game with a goal and three assists for the Comets in the win.
Comets’ head coach Stefan Stokic was impressed with his team’s effort on both sides of the ball following his first win at the helm of the squad.
“For the first game of the season, we showed discipline and organization. We showed that we can defend and score at the same time which is why we brought in some quality players,” said Stokic.
The dominant win came even with several key player unavailable tonight.
Reget opened the scoring with his first goal which came unassisted with 11:36 to go in the first. 19 seconds later, Henry Ramirez doubled the lead on an assist from John Sosa to make it a 2-0 lead with 11:07 to go in the opening frame.
Milwaukee responded with a pair of power-play goals from Ricardo Carvalho and Derek Huffman to level the game with 5:36 to go in the first quarter. For Huffman, it was his second goal of the season and Carvalho went on to net two markers in this game.
The Comets scored goals in the final 30 seconds in each of the first three quarters tonight and the first was a walla-scora from Reget on a sharp assist by Eduardo “Lalo” Alonso Alejo with just 18 seconds to play in the first which ultimately put the Comets in front for good.
Nacho Flores found the back of the net for the Comets for first time this season and just 47 seconds later, Carvalho converted on a Comets miscue to make the score a 4-3 Kansas City lead with 11:17 to go in the first half.
Kansas City scored the final five goals of the game beginning with Reget’s third of the night, assisted by Sosa to run the Comets lead to two at 5-3 with 4:32 on the clock in the second quarter.
It was a Comets’ odd man rush which saw Michael Lenis produce his first career MASL point when he assisted Lucas Sousa on a goal with 24 seconds to play in the half. It was a 6-3 Kansas City lead at that point, an advantage they took to the second half.
Milwaukee converted on their only two power play chance of the game and the Comets made good on theirs when Flores took a pass from Sosa and put it past Wave keeper William Banahene with a diving header at the back post for a 7-3 Kansas City lead…