Comets

Arbitrator George Nicolau has asked attorneys for Major Soccer League forward Dale Mitchell and Kansas City Comets owner Chris Clouser to hit the law books.After listening to nine hours of testimony in a grievance suit brought by Mitchell, Nicolau said he would make a ruling within 48 hours of receiving the research information, due in his office by next Tuesday.Mitchell, who was traded by Kansas City to the Blast last month, is asking to be made a free agent. He is charging the Comets "fraudulently induced" him to sign and then traded him.Mitchell claims the Comets made promises "above the actual contract, knowing they could not be put in writing, knowing no other team would have a responsibility to abide by a verbal agreement."

In a wild game of one-upmanship between Perry Hall and No. 8 Catonsville yesterday, scoring goals came easily. Making a lead stick, however, proved more difficult.The Comets answered Perry Hall's first goal within 10 seconds. The Gators matched Catonsville's second goal within 26 seconds. The Comets answered the Gators' third goal within 2: 27.In a game that was tied for all but 15 minutes, Kristine Barton gave the Gators a 4-3 lead with 11: 52 left and the Comets could not respond. Kathy Baran added an insurance goal with eight minutes to go as the host Gators upset Catonsville, 5-3, in a Baltimore County Heron Division game.

Her Catonsville teammates don't call Jamie Funk their defensive specialist for nothing.Last night, the senior forward turned two quick steals into four points within eight seconds to spark the No. 8 Comets to the Class 2A North Region title, their first regional championship in four years.Despite the lopsided 61-43 final score, the host Comets (22-2) had all kinds of trouble shaking a determined Towson squad that was still flying high after upsetting No. 16 Milford Mill Wednesday.The Generals (13-7)

It had not happened in nine years and Catonsville had never done it -- until last night.The Comets stunned No. 6 Loch Raven, 11-10 in overtime, to become only the fifth Baltimore County team to beat the Raiders in the 23-year history of their program. The win also snapped a 34-game Loch Raven winning streak."Nothing compares to this," said Meghann Mohler, who led the Comets with five goals. "We read the article in Baltimore magazine when they did a special on lacrosse and it said everybody's looking to beat Loch Raven but that's the same as Halley's Comet coming around.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Former Kansas City forward Dale Mitchell's homecoming to Kemper Arena was spoiled last night when the Comets rallied in the second half and pulled out a 7-6 overtime Major Soccer League victory over the Baltimore Blast.Mitchell did his part with a goal and an assist, as the Blast built a 3-0 halftime lead. Baltimore led by 4-0, then 5-2 early in the fourth period before the Comets (2-1) surged from behind with four goals, the last with 48 seconds remaining on a sixth-attacker score by Kim Roentved.

Jan Goossens and the Kansas City Comets sent the Baltimore Blast limping into the five-day Major Soccer League All-Star break yesterday.Goossens scored three goals at the Baltimore Arena to lead the Comets to a 7-6 victory over a Blast team that appears to be physically and mentally drained.It was the fifth hat trick of the season for Goossens, a forward, who continues to play well with midfielder Carl Valentine, who was acquired by the Comets from Baltimore last summer. Goossens (43 goals, 38 assists)

Sara Burns had a date with perfection yesterday, and not even an after-prom party and a lack of sleep could spoil it. Burns pitched five perfect innings for Catonsville in their Class 2A North Regional softball final at Lansdowne, and the Comets sent 26 batters to the plate in the first three innings to win, 12-0. With the victory, Catonsville advances to play Atholton in the state semifinals on Tuesday. "We had prom last night, and I was dead-tired this morning," said Burns, a senior, who pitched her first perfect game by dismissing all 15 batters she faced.

Every time No. 6 Catonsville tried to make a move against beaten Linganore, Cara Consuegra had an answer.The multi-talented 5-foot-8 guard came within one steal of a triple double as she led the Lancers to a 68-43 victory over the Comets in a state Class 2A semifinal last night at UMBC.Consuegra scored 27, grabbed 12 rebounds, had nine steals and dished out six assists in what Linganore coach Brian Matthews called an "average" day for her.To the Comets, Consuegra was anything but average, especially at the end of the first half when she all but ended hopes for Catonsville's first girls basketball title.

After struggling to score three goals in the first half last night against a Towson team bent on slowing the ball to a crawl, the Catonsville Comets decided to play the rest of the game the only way they knew how -- in fast forward.Catonsville scored three unanswered goals in the third quarter to turn a close game into a rout, then hung on down the stretch for a 7-4 win in a key Baltimore County Division I matchup."We were playing their game in the first half," said Catonsville coach Matt Ames.

Another ranked opponent on the road. Another victory for unranked Catonsville.The Comets made No. 19 Milford Mill their latest victim last night, outlasting the Millers, 72-67, in double overtime in a Baltimore County 3A-4A League game.The victory gave Catonsville (8-1 overall, 6-0 league) sole possession of first place after battling back from late deficits in regulation and the first overtime.In the second overtime, the Comets assumed command, building a five-point cushion, then sealing the outcome with four straight free throws, six overall in the last period.