COMETS LOSE HOME FINALE TO STARS

INDEPENDENCE, MO - (March 23, 2025) - The Kansas City Comets' late-season stumbles continued on Sunday evening at Cable Dahmer Arena as they suffered their second straight defeat against the Tacoma Stars.

It was a brutal start for the Comets, who conceded three goals in the first quarter. It all started inside the first two minutes when Tyler John asserted his dominance with a powerful move before firing it into the top corner.

Shortly after, Tacoma struck again as Michael Ramos scored off a rebound from a restart that was blocked. The Stars went up 3-0 when goalkeeper Chris Toth found Nick Perera with a cross-field pass off the glass before Perera scored his 17th of the season.

The Comets got their footing in the second and finally cut into the deficit. Stefan Mijatovic, a former Star, put the Comets on the board with a left-footed blast 2:19 into the second quarter. The Comets continued to pose a threat, outshooting the Stars 9-8 in the quarter, but were unable to make a greater impact.

Tacoma opened up a three-goal lead once again in the third when Willie Spurr split the Kansas City defense to set up Cale Spence's first career goal. Ramone Palmer pulled one back for the Comets until it was canceled out by Alex Caceres, making it 5-2 favoring Tacoma.

Nathan Durdle had a quick answer to Caceres' goal, pulling the Comets back within two late in the third period. The Comets kept fighting and finally got within a score when Chad Vandegriffe scored his sixth of the season 9:55 into the fourth, forcing the ball into the net in a goal-line scrum.

The Comets had some looks to equalize, outshooting the Stars 21-0 in the fourth, but could not complete the comeback.

The Comets dropped to 14-6-1 on the season, entering the final weekend of action in third place on 44 points. The Comets can no longer move into second place, but can drop as low as fifth if results involving Baltimore and Milwaukee go unfavorably.

The Comets will conclude the regular season next weekend on the road against Utica City FC on Friday and Baltimore Blast next Sunday before the playoffs April 4-6. Fans also have the opportunity to reserve their seat for next season at a discount price until March 31 at kccomets.com/tickets.