The Cincinnati Comets was an American
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club based in
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
that was a member of the
American Soccer League. The Comets won the ASL in 1972, led by 16-year-old Costa Rican-American
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
Ringo Cantillo
Julio "Ringo" Cantillo is a former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. He played five seasons in the American Soccer League where he was the league MVP as a rookie. He won MVP honors a total of three times in the ASL. Cantil ...
who would win
Most Valuable Player
In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
that year. At the time Cantillo was a high school student at
McNicholas High School and living with head coach
Nick Capurro.
[ ] Cantillo would go on to win MVP 3 more times in the ASL. The following year in 1973 the Comets would advance to the championship again ultimately losing to the
New York Apollo
The New York Greeks was an American soccer club based in New York City that was a member of the American Soccer League.
The team began as the amateur Greek-Americans. The club played lower Premier Division of the German American Soccer League w ...
.
Coaches
*
Nick Capurro (1972–73)
Stadiums
*1972:
St. Xavier High School
*1973:
Nippert Stadium (playoff game against Cleveland played at St. Xavier High School)
*1974–75: Trechter Stadium, Cincinnati Technical College, now
Cincinnati State Technical and Community College
Cincinnati State Technical and Community College (CSTCC or Cincinnati State) is a public technical and community college in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
History
Chartered by the Ohio Board of Regents in ...
Year-by-year
Honors
League Championship
:* ''Winner (1):'' 1972
:* ''Runner Up (1):'' 1973
League MVP
* 1972:
Ringo Cantillo
Julio "Ringo" Cantillo is a former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. He played five seasons in the American Soccer League where he was the league MVP as a rookie. He won MVP honors a total of three times in the ASL. Cantil ...
* 1974:
Ringo Cantillo
Julio "Ringo" Cantillo is a former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. He played five seasons in the American Soccer League where he was the league MVP as a rookie. He won MVP honors a total of three times in the ASL. Cantil ...
Leading Scorer
* 1973:
Eddy Roberts
Eddy Roberts was the 1973 leading scorer in the American Soccer League. Roberts played for the Cincinnati Comets, scoring twelve goals, and adding ten assists, in twelve games as the Comets finished runner-up to the New York Apollo
The New York ...
Leading Goalkeeper
* 1973:
Antion Cruz
Antion (; Ancient Greek: Ἀντίων), in Greek mythology, was the eldest son of Periphas and Astyaguia (daughter of Hypseus), who were distantly related. According to legend, he was the great-grandson of Apollo, his paternal grandfather being L ...
Coach of the Year
* 1972:
Nick Capurro
References
Soccer clubs in Cincinnati, Comets
Defunct soccer clubs in Ohio
American Soccer League (1933–1983) teams
Soccer clubs in Ohio
1972 establishments in Ohio
1975 disestablishments in Ohio
Association football clubs established in 1972
Association football clubs disestablished in 1975
{{Cincinnati-sport-stub