Comets home for Game 4 of I-70 Series

by Nathan Dunn

Kansas City Comets @ St. Louis Ambush

MASL Regular Season — Game 8

When: Sat, Dec. 27 - 6pm CT

Where: Cable Dahmer Arena

Tickets: Ticketmaster | Tickets For Less

The Success on the Spectrum I-70 Series continues Saturday evening on Silverstein Eye Centers Field as the Kansas City Comets and St. Louis Ambush begin the final stretch of the six-game series.

After back-to-back road wins, the Comets are back home with a 3-0 series lead going into Game 4, hoping to clinch the I-70 Series Cup outright for the fourth consecutive season. The Comets are 1-1 at home this season, last losing to Milwaukee on Dec. 12.

Game 4 of the I-70 Series pits the Comets and Ambush against each other less than a week after both teams played 70 minutes of inseparable action before the Comets secured a shootout victory. The Comets went up 2-0 in the first quarter before a second-half comeback from the Ambush forced overtime, but Phillip Ejimadu’s three shootout saves delivered the Comets’ road win.

Ejimadu’s heroics off the bench earned him MASL Goalkeeper of the Week for the second time this season. He leads the MASL with four wins, making 55 saves in over 300 minutes of action.

The Comets’ defense needed 15 blocks to hold the Ambush to just two goals, shutting them out in the first half. Chad Vandegriffe became the second player in league history to reach 400 blocks in an MASL career, doing so last week with his fourth of five blocks against his hometown Ambush.

The Comets’ offense hopes to find more consistent production against the Ambush. KC was outshot 10-3 in the middle two quarters last week, with leading scorers Zach Reget and Dom Francis held scoreless on nine shots combined throughout the game.

KC sits at the top of the standings on 13 points with a 5-2-0 record this season, four points clear of second-place Tacoma (3-0-0) and Milwaukee (3-0-1).

On the injury front, some of the Comets’ concerns include Marcel Berry, Rian Marques, Leo Acosta and Julio Coronado, who are all listed as questionable. Ejimadu is probable alongside Ramone Palmer, Lesia Thetsane and Reget.

The Comets have won five straight against the Ambush, who last defeated the Comets on Dec. 28, 2024, requiring an overtime verdict in Cable Dahmer Arena. A win for the Comets would extend hope for a season series sweep of the Ambush for the first time since 2016-17.

St. Louis Ambush

Despite their shootout defeat last Sunday, the Ambush have been playing well with wins in their previous two games. They are fourth in the league with a 2-2-1 record, including a 1-1-0 mark on the road.

STL returns to Cable Dahmer Arena hoping to repeat what they did in last year’s holiday meeting, when they won in overtime for the team’s only win in five games against KC. The Ambush are aiming to get their first win of this season's series, having lost 13 of their last 15 matchups with the Comets.

Veteran goalkeeper Paulo Nascimento leads the MASL with 60 saves, one of five goalkeepers in the league who have stopped more than 70% of shots sent their way.

Ambush forward Daniel Torrealba has caused opponents trouble early on this season, sitting fourth in the league with six goals, four of those coming against KC. Jeff Michaud has also been problematic, tallying three goals and three assists as a defender in his fifth MASL season.

STL could be without James Thomas (thigh) and Mario Falsone (hand), who are both questionable. The quartet of Dominic Haggard (concussion protocol), James Togbah (knee), Christian Briggs (foot) and Michaud (calf) are probable for Saturday.

Tickets for Saturday’s contest are available at kccomets.com/tickets.