Hot Comets Hand Sockers Fourth Loss in Row
The Kansas City Comets gave their fans everything but a victory lap Wednesday night.
That was the only perk missing from an 8-4 victory over the Sockers at Kemper Arena. For the first time in recent memory, the Comets didn’t take their traditional high-fiving victory lap because of complaints from season-ticket holders who have been stepped on and over by overzealous fans trying to get a look at their heroes.
That alone ought to tell you how well the Comets (28-23) have been playing lately. The victory was the Comets’ fifth in a row and their 18th at home this season, tying a franchise record. No wonder protecting their fans from the Major Indoor Soccer League’s hottest team is a priority.
Damir Haramina broke a 4-4 tie with 7 minutes 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter to touch off a scoring rush against the Sockers’ sixth-attacker unit. Barry Wallace scored twice into an empty net, and Jan Goossens completed his second consecutive three-point night with a goal to temporarily move into a tie for the MISL scoring lead. Kia had an MISL-best four points on a goal and three assists, and Haramina added two goals and an assist.
“It’s not our plan to do this every night,” said Wallace of the MISL’s highest-scoring team. “We can’t, at will, score nine tonight and nine tomorrow night. It’s kind of an unspoken thing that we can do it any night.”
That scoring feeling returned emphatically before 9,814.
The game ended strangely after the teams fought evenly for 3 1/2 quarters. Haramina’s fifth goal in two nights broke the tie, and Socker Coach Ron Newman immediately went to sixth attacker Fernando Clavijo. The Sockers had rebounded from one-goal deficits three times to tie the Comets. From there, the Comets had an easy one.
The Sockers (37-14) lost their fourth in a row. They have have been coasting since March 19, when they clinched the Western Division title. The Comets were definitely the hungrier team.
“Our players are thinking playoffs right now,” Clavijo said. “Our minds aren’t there. Kansas City is trying to get the home-field advantage (for early playoff rounds), and we knew they were going to come to us. People are saying we’re out of shape. When the playoffs come, we’ll be in shape.”
It looked a night off for the Sockers. Leading scorer Branko Segota left the game at halftime with a pulled thigh muscle.
Shortly into the third quarter, Comet goalie Alan Mayer went down for approximately 10 minutes with an abrasion to his eye and eyelid after making a save on Waad Hirmez. Mayer returned as sharp as the team in front of him, allowing only one goal on the Sockers’ last 16 shots.
Goossens broke a 3-3 tie with his 44th goal 12:14 into the third quarter. Socker forward Zoran Karic tied it quickly at 14:25. That brought it into the fourth quarter, where the Sockers usually rule and should have had an advantage Wednesday because the Comets had played the night before.
The littlest Comet, Kia, made it happen. He took the ball from his own zone and beat Sockers Kevin Crow and Paul Dougherty to create space for himself. After drawing three defenders to him in the Sockers’ zone, he cut a ball to Haramina, who beat a sliding Zoltan Toth.
Tonnie Wareman gave the Comets a 3-2 lead 2:44 into the second quarter with an assist worth a couple of notes. It extended Goossens’ point-scoring streak to 21 games. It also was the first time Goossens set up his countryman for a goal. It was Goossens who convinced Wareman to leave Holland for a shot at the MISL earlier this season.
Dougherty tied it 2:17 later with a goal befitting the MISL’s shortest player. He jumped on a loose ball and shot through a defensive maze past Mayer. Dougherty then just plain jumped--his famous front flip is reminiscent of Ozzie Smith’s for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Still, there was no just-another-game atmosphere for the Sockers. But the celebrating was going on down the hallway in Kemper.
“We cannot use that excuse,” Clavijo said. “Once you get in the game, you want to win. I can be 20 games up, but I want to beat you.”
