On
a night when the Missouri Comets honored the rich history of indoor
soccer in Kansas City, they came out determined to put on a big show.
Leo Gibson led all scorers and set a Comets team record with seventeen
points on the night. Missouri breaks a two game losing streak with a
30-17 victory over the visiting Rochester Lancers.
Coach
Kim Roentved wanted a fast start from his team, “The best teams score
early and score often,” said Roentved, “tonight Ryan (Junge) got us
going, Leo (Gibson) kept us going and we never looked back.”
It
only took eighteen seconds for Junge to find the back of the night as
he buried a three point goal. Gibson had the next three goals before
the quarter was even halfway over. Rochester’s Rey Martinez was finally
able to get his team on the scoreboard at the twelve minute mark, but
the Lancers went to the quarter break stunned and down 10-2.
Rochester
tried to get back into the game in the second quarter. Employing the
strategy that won them the game in December, the Lancers let Doug Miller
stand behind the defense in hopes that his teammates could feed him the
ball for an easy one-on-one drive to the goal. Unlike that game, the
Comets were ready. Defenders Junge, Brian Harris, and Coady Andrews
would push into their offensive third, and then sprint back to defense
if the ball was turned over. The Lancers were able to work the ball up
the field a few times to score 11 points, but the Comets added nine to
their point total for a 19-13 halftime lead.
With
a seemingly comfortable lead at halftime, the Comets came out intent to
keep the Lancers at just an arm’s length away. Mauricio Salles took
advantage of the laid back play and scored the first points of the half a
minute and a half in. Leo Gibson, who had been quiet since notching an
assist halfway through the second quarter, got on the board again with a
three point goal from Vahid Assadpour to keep the Comets well ahead of
their foes.
Gibson
put an exclamation point on his night with two goals in the fourth
quarter, including a highlight-reel bicycle kick from the right side of
the goal. The unanimous choice for man of the match added three assists
to his six goals and ended up with a franchise-record seventeen points
on the night as he led his team to a 30-17 victory.
The
Comets take another east coast swing next weekend with games against
the Baltimore Blast and the Lancers, then return home on February 1st at
7:35pm to once again face Rochester. Fans will also be able to enjoy
the World-Famous Mascot game, featuring Calvin the Comets Canine and all
of his friends, at halftime.
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