Comets head East to take on Baltimore and Utica

MASL Regular Season — Games 3 & 4

Broadcast: MASLtv | Victory+ | Sportsworld | Unbeaten Network | MASL+

Mexico: Fox Sports Mexico

Game 3: Sat, Dec. 6 - 5pm CT - Towson, MD

Kansas City Comets vs Baltimore Blast

Game 4: Sun, Dec. 7 - 2pm CT - Utica, NY

Kansas City Comets vs Utica City FC

The Kansas City Comets’ home opener tour continues on the East Coast this weekend, when the Comets visit the Baltimore Blast on Saturday and Utica City FC on Sunday.

The Comets open up Baltimore’s season with a visit to TU Arena, opening a challenging back-to-back weekend on the road. Following Saturday, the Comets travel to New York for Utica City FC’s home opener.

Kansas City is coming from a back-to-back sweep of the St. Louis Ambush last weekend. They opened the MASL season with a 7-3 road win in STL before taking their own home opener 8-3.

The Comets did not lack in star power last weekend, using eight goal scorers and plenty of hard work to hold down the fort defensively. Zach Reget and Christian Anderaos are tied at the top of the leaderboards with four goals each, earning Anderaos MASL Offensive Player of the Week.

On the defensive side, Phillip Ejimadu earned MASL Goalkeeper of the Week with 21 saves between both victories. The Comets’ defense also played a critical role, combining for 47 blocks last weekend.

After posting a road record of 6-5-1 last season, the Comets hope to grab a second consecutive road victory on Saturday.

The Comets enter the second week of action with a clean bill of health, although Leo Acosta will serve the final two games of his three-game suspension for a red card in the season-opener.

Baltimore Blast

The Comets enter troubling territory on Saturday, entering an arena where they have never won. KC last won in Baltimore in 2016, when the Comets overturned a 2-0 first-half deficit to win 5-4 in overtime at Royal Farms Arena.

Baltimore is led by head coach David Bascome, who returns alongside reigning MASL Newcomer of the Year Chad Poarch. Poarch tallied 33 points from 23 goals and 10 assists out of Baltimore’s defense last year.

The Blast finished as the No. 3 seed last season with a record of 16-7-1, 11-1-0 at home. They advanced to the semifinals last season before falling to San Diego.

The Blast were among the top defensive teams in the league last year, allowing just 123 goals with only San Diego (119) and Chihuahua (114) allowing fewer. Goalkeeper Mike Zierhoffer anchors Baltimore’s defense alongside the team’s leading shotblocker, Patrick Thompson.

On the attack, a pair of Baltimore veterans supply a potent offense once again this season. Juan Pereira (20 goals and 15 assists) and Bruno Henrique (16 goals and 14 assists) joined Poarch as 30-point scorers last season.

Baltimore has Kevaughn Frater (ankle), Marco Nascimento (calf) and Nico Williams (hip) listed as probable for this weekend.

Utica City FC

Utica City FC enters a new season with some significant names not with the team, including the retirements of captain Nate Bourdeau and goalkeeper Andrew Coughlin.

UCFC is expected to begin a new season without star scorer Kelvin Oliveira, who averaged 3.5 points in 12 games last year, as well as Vini Dantas and Nelson Santana.

Head coach Hewerton Moreira begins a new chapter with the trio of Nilton de Andrade, Sergio Pinal and Gordy Gurson leading an attack that will look different than the one that scored 176 times last year.

In the defensive loss of Coughlin, UCFC picked up San Diego’s Xavier Snaer Williams on loan, also returning Brian Wilkin. All-star defender Juan Olava will look to regroup a defense that allowed over 150 goals last year before facing a first-round elimination in the playoffs.

The Comets swept UCFC in both games last year, winning on home turf 4-3 before late-game heroics allowed the Comets to rescue a 7-6 overtime road win in March.

After the Comets visit the East Coast, they return home to Cable Dahmer Arena on Friday, Dec. 12, for a meeting with the Milwaukee Wave. Get your tickets now for that rivalry matchup while they last.