Comets’ 2nd-Period Burst Stops Lazers

Just two nights after convincingly shooting down the Major Indoor Soccer League defending champion Dallas Sidekicks, the Lazers themselves were routed, 10-4, by the Kansas City Comets Tuesday night before a Forum crowd of 4,463.

Seven Kansas City players scored seven first-half goals--six of them in the second period--to pace the Comets to their second consecutive victory. Nine Comets scored goals in the game.

The win kept the Comets (22-20) in second place and sent the Lazers (21-22) down to fourth.

The Comets lead the Lazers by 1 1/2 games and the Tacoma Stars by 1 as the three Western Division teams jockey for possible postseason play. The Wichita Wings, who trail the Lazers by two games, lost to the first-place San Diego Sockers Tuesday night, 4-3, in double overtime.

“It was a total lack of concentration on our part,” Lazer Coach Keith Tozer said. “We weren’t physical, and we never wanted to get close to anybody.”

Both teams began the game with an apparent disregard for defense, each seemingly content with trying to outscore the other.

The Comets opened the scoring early in the first quarter when Dale Mitchell, the league’s third-leading scorer, caromed a pass off the board to David Doyle, who easily beat Lazer goalkeeper David Brcic to give his team a 1-0 lead.

The Lazers, however, appeared to gain control of the game later in the period, scoring three unanswered goals to close out the first period with a 3-1 advantage.

Their momentum was short-lived, however. The Comets opened the second period with three goals on three shots by three different players. Within a span of 2:18, the Comets had taken a 4-3 advantage.

“Here we were up, 3-1, knocking the ball around when all of the sudden everything falls apart,” Tozer said.

Precisely.

The Comets were able to maintain their momentum and increased their lead to 6-3 late in the second period on goals by Kim Roentved and Dave Boncek.

Thompson Usiyan scored the Lazers’ fourth and final goal with 1:23 left in the second period, making it 6-4.

Mitchell, who finished with a goal and three assists, scored his 41st goal of the season with 19 seconds remaining in the period to make it 7-4 Comets at halftime, after which the Lazers were unable to get on track.

“We just didn’t come to play,” Tozer said, “but we’re still in the thick of things. We’ll shake it off and be ready to play the next time around.”