Comets Earn 2014 MISL Championship

March 16, 2014 - Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) BALTIMORE - The Missouri Comets claimed the franchise's first MISL Championship in dramatic fashion on Sunday night as they took a 6-4 victory against the Baltimore Blast in Game 3 of the MISL Championship Series in front of 6,447 fans at Baltimore Arena.

Brian Harris - who took MISL Championship Series Most Valuable Player honors - scored the game-winning goal with 56.1 seconds to play as the Comets twice came back from deficits in the Game 3 mini-game to dethrone the defending champion Blast.

Game 3 proved tense early, with the Comets controlling more possession. It then sprang to life with just under seven minutes to play. The Blast took the lead with 6:32 to play as Missouri's Danny Waltman was able to parry a 3-point shot, only for Max Ferdinand to turn home a finish from close range as the ball was sent back into the penalty area by Marco Mangione.

The lead would be short-lived, though, as Lucas Rodriguez scored on a spectacular bicycle kick from the left side 56 seconds later to tie the game up 2-2. Baltimore regained the lead with less than three minutes to play, however, as Adauto Neto bulled his way through the Comets' defense before he shot low into the right corner.

That forced the Comets to pull their goalkeeper to go with the extra attacker, but their risk was rewarded with 1:34 to play as Stefan St. Louis was able to redirect home Rodriguez's shot from a restart to tie the game up again. Then, on the following shift, Harris found space on the left, and worked a perfect give-and-go with Leo Gibson before he fired home into the top-right corner of the net. The Blast would pull their goalkeeper for the remainder of the game, but were unable to find a way past Waltman as the Comets held on for victory.

The Blast had evened the series in Game 2 as they dominated the Comets in a 19-4 win. Neto led the way with a hat trick, while Mike Lookingland had three assists, to force a deciding game.

As in Game 1, the Blast got out to a fast start as Mangione opened the scoring after just 90 seconds. Baltimore would then be the beneficiaries of two unlucky deflections, as Mike Deasel and Neto, from 3-point range, saw efforts deflected into their own net by Comet defenders.

The Blast would continue to pull away as Lookingland provided the assists on goals by Ferdinand and Tony Donatelli for an 11-0 halftime lead. Neto would then score in both the third and fourth quarter to complete his hat trick as the Comets never threatened to come back.

MISL Championship Series

No. 1 Baltimore Blast vs. No. 3 Missouri Comets

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Comets Earn 2014 MISL Championship

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