March 14, 2014 - USL PRO (USL PRO) INDEPENDENCE, Mo. - The Missouri Comets set a new MISL Playoffs record with five 3-point goals, and captain Vahid Assadpour set an individual MISL Playoffs record with a hat trick of 3-pointers, as they took a 15-8 victory in Game 1 of the MISL Championship Series on Friday night in front of 4,524 fans at the Independence Events Center.

Game 2 of the MISL Championship Series is set for Sunday evening at 5:05 p.m. ET at the Baltimore Arena, with all of the action available live on YouTube. Should it be required, a Game 3 mini-game would be played to decide the series following the conclusion of Game 2.

Assadpour led a run of five consecutive 3-pointers for the Comets after the Blast took an early lead with two goals in the first five minutes. J.T. Noone, who also had a hat trick on the night, opened the scoring with a volley 4:01 into the game. Less than a minute later, Max Ferdinand took a good pass from Tony Donatelli and slid home a finish to make it 4-0 for the Blast.

Baltimore would then be held scoreless until the two minutes as the Comets mounted their historic run. Missouri was able to take advantage when the Blast were called for too many men on the field just past the halfway point of the first quarter as Assadpour collected a pass on the left, and drilled home a finish from 3-point range to cut Missouri's deficit to one.

The game was physical throughout the first half, and came to a head midway through a scoreless second quarter as both Baltimore's Adriano Dos Santos and Missouri's John Sosa were sent to the penalty box for misconduct after an altercation at midfield. The heated feelings lingered between the two players, and both were ejected during halftime after fighting as the teams left the field.

The Comets grabbed hold of the game to open the third quarter, as they scored back-to-back 3-pointers through Assadpour and Stefan St. Louis inside the opening five minutes to take a 9-4 lead. The Blast tried to hit back, but Comets goalkeeper Danny Waltman made an excellent save to deny Noone a reply as Missouri held its five-point lead going to the fourth.

That lead would be extended just over five minutes into the final quarter as Assadpour struck again from 3-point range with a ferocious blast from beyond the yellow line that set a new MISL Playoffs record. Brian Harris would then get in on the action, putting home a 3-point finish into an empty net to make it 15-4. Noone would strike twice late on for the Blast as the Comets briefly let their guard down, but Missouri held on to take a comfortable victory.

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Comets Claim Game 1 of MISL Championship Series