March 11, 2014 - Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) Missouri Comets INDEPENDENCE, Mis. (March 10, 2014) - The Missouri Comets will return to the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) Championship Series for the second straight season. Although, they easily defeated the Milwaukee Wave on Sunday afternoon in the opening game of the series, they had to work much harder to earn their berth in the league's final series. Despite goals from four different players, the Comets lost Game Two of the series 12-9, but Brian Harris scored just 26 seconds into the deciding "Mini-Game' and the Comets never looked back. A quick 6-2 victory gives the Comets their second chance at the MISL title in only their fourth year of existence.

Leading the series, 1-0 coming in to the game, the Comets had to work hard to earn their berth in the final. Both teams came out with fierce attacks on their opponent's goal. The result was a lot of back and forth action as both the Comets and the Wave saw several odd man counterattacks.

Goalkeepers Marcel Feenstra of Milwaukee and Danny Waltman of Missouri stood tall as they protected their net. Luan Oliviera was the only player to find the goal in the opening quarter, putting the Wave on top 2-0 as the first period came to an end.

A tripping foul on Robert Palmer towards the end of the first quarter forced the Comets to start the second period shorthanded. Playing a man-down didn't bother defender Brian Harris as his pressure on the Wave defense allowed him to collect the ball at the Milwaukee yellow line and bury home a three-point shot to take the lead. Late in the quarter, Milwaukee regained the lead when Tenzin Rampa's hip was in the right place at the right time to deflect in a shot from Oliviera.

Down 4-3 at the break, the Comets regained some of the form that saw them win five of the seven matchups between the two teams. Leo Gibson jumped on a ball that was ping-ponging around the Wave's penalty box and regained the lead for the Comets. Bryan Perez then punished the Wave for a defensive mistake and extended the Comets lead to 7-4.

Still one of the most dangerous teams in the league, the Wave scored three goals in the fourth period. Tony Walls, Marcia Leite, and Jonathan Greenfield each tallied points for Milwaukee. Vahid Assadpour netted a goal for the Comets, but they were not able to get all the way back and fell 12-9, forcing a 15-minute immediate "Mini-Game to decide the winner.

Unique to the MISL, the "Mini-Game' is played almost immediately following Game Two when necessary. The Comets and Wave have played each other in the MISL Playoffs four straight seasons, and now would need the extra game to decide the winner for three of those four times.

Brian Harris wasted no time in the short game, scoring 26 seconds after the opening kickoff for the early 2-0 lead. He added another off a great pass from Milan Ivanovic with just under nine minutes remaining. Veteran and captain for the Milwaukee Wave, Guiliano Oliveiro, tried to get his side back into the game with a score shortly after that, cutting the Comets lead to 4-2. Hope was short for the Wave though as the Comets' captain, Vahid Assadpour went end-to-end with a little over four minutes remaining in the game to score a game-clinching goal. Missouri held off several furious rallies from the Wave to finish the Mini-Game with a 6-2 victory.

The Comets will now await the winner of the Baltimore Blast vs. Syracuse Silver Knights series. Depending on the winner of that series, Missouri will host their leg of the Championship Series on either Friday, March 14 at 7:35p.m. CT or Sunday, March 16 at 3:10pm. Season ticket holders have until Wednesday, March 12 at 5:00p.m. CT to reserve their seats for the MISL Championship Series.

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Comets Return to MISL Championship Series