Byron Alvarez Leads Comets to 17-9 Victory

After a month where the Comets found themselves mostly on the road, they were happy to be back in front of over 4,500 screaming fans at the Independence Events Center. On the strength of four goals from Byron Alvarez the Comets got back on the winning track with a 17-9 victory over the Syracuse Silver Knights.

Forward, Mads Falck spent the holidays with family who traveled all the way from their home country of Denmark.  Falck didn’t disappoint, scoring the game’s first two goals. The first from John Sosa and the next from Stefan St. Louis. Byron Alvarez ended the period by popping the ball up high and over the Knights defender and buried a volley past the sprawling Knights goalkeeper, Bryan O’Quinn.

Up 6-0 heading into the second quarter, the Comets fell into a laidback attack, unlike the high pressure offense from earlier. Syracuse’s Andrew Budnyy and Jamar Beasley took advantage. Beasley’s three pointer ended the half and brought the Knights within a point, 6-5.

Coach Kim Roentved reminded his team at halftime what that first period felt like, “We played near perfect soccer in the first quarter, and then came out flat in the second. I challenged them to finish the way they started and they responded, especially in the fourth quarter.”

His message didn’t hit home right away, the Silver Knights’ Neto scored the first goal of the second half. Byron Alvarez, with his second goal of the night, briefly regained the lead for the Comets a few minutes later. Former Comets forward, Jamar Beasley, gave his new team the lead again with his second goal of the night. The Comets were down 9-8 at the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter belonged to the Comets. The team wore down the Syracuse Silver Knights and pressured goalkeeper Bryan O’Quinn and the Knights defense with 23 shots in the game. Byron Alvarez completed his hat trick less than two minutes into the quarter. Now leading 10-9, the Comets decided not to take their foot off the pedal and continued their pressure. Even when defender, Cristiano, was forced to sit down for a two minute penalty, the Comets remained on the attack. Ryan Junge scored his fourth goal of the season shorthanded when he and Vahid caught the Knights lazily trying to clear their third of the field. Late in the quarter, the Knights tried to rally a comeback by inserting Kenardo Forbes as a sixth attacker. Sniffing an open net, Cristiano stole the ball from the Syracuse attack and launched a ball from midfield that rolled easily into the empty net. Now leading 15-9 with 2:18 to play the Comets still continued the attack. Byron Alvarez and Lucas Rodriguez outhustled the Knights defense and Alvarez capped off his four goal night.

The Comets 17-9 win breaks their four game losing streak and brings them back within a game of .500.  They return to the Independence Events Center next Sunday, January 6th at 3:10 pm to face the Wichita Wings. The first 3,000 fans will receive Nesting Dolls featuring Brian Harris, Ryan Junge and Boris Pardo, courtesy of Citizens Bank & Trust.