Comets looking to clinch playoff spot in St. Louis

by Nathan Dunn

Kansas City Comets vs St. Louis Ambush

MASL Regular Season

Sunday, March 17 — 2:05 p.m. CT

Where | Family Arena - St. Charles, Missouri

Riding a four-game winning streak, the Kansas City Comets (12-6-4) will visit the St. Louis Ambush (4-10-6) on Sunday with hopes of clinching a spot in the Ron Newman Cup Playoffs.

The Comets need only a point from a win or overtime loss in their final two games to clinch a playoff spot, or Baltimore must fail to win any of its final five games in regulation. Baltimore's only game this week comes on Saturday against last-place Harrisburg.

The Comets are among the hottest teams in the MASL having won five of their last six since Feb. 10. They are coming off an 11-6 win over Utica City FC last Sunday. Despite trailing 4-1 in the first quarter, the Comets rallied and outscored UCFC 10-2 the remainder of the contest.

Zach Reget leads the MASL with a career-high 31 goals, fresh from a four-goal showing in last week's win over UCFC. Nacho Flores follows behind Reget with 13 goals and 16 assists.

Nicolau Neto has proven to be another key to success with a 12-3-4 record and a league-leading 242 saves. Robert Palmer and Chad Vandegriffe are also having career seasons as Palmer has set an MASL record with 77 blocks while Vandegriffe sits third in the league with 53.

The Comets will be without forward Rian Marques as he serves his one-game suspension after the MASL's Discipline Review Committee gave him a red card for an "intentional and deliberate severe striking offense" in last week's win over UCFC.

The Comets are looking to break even on the road this weekend, currently 5-6 away from Cable Dahmer Arena. A win on Sunday would be their second in three tries at Family Arena this season.

KC has already clinched the season series with a 4-1 record entering the final matchup, but STL would love to spoil the Comets' postseason ambitions. STL has been a tough out for the Comets this season, forcing a near-miraculous last-second goal to force overtime before Reget's overtime winner last time they met on March 2.

The Ambush have lost five straight, but the last three have required overtime. Their last win came in KC's previous visit to Family Arena on Feb. 6, a match that also needed overtime to reach a 6-5 final scoreline.

The Ambush's most recent defeat was a gruesome heartbreaker. After giving up a four-goal lead in the second half against Milwaukee, the Ambush stopped the bleeding and got the game to overtime. Neither team found the golden goal in OT, but Milwaukee sealed the shootout victory.

STL is led in scoring by Will Eskay's 23 goals and Lucas Almeida's 15 assists. James Thomas is back a way with just 11 goals but he had four in last week's loss to MKE.

Following Sunday's contest, the Comets return home for the regular season finale against the San Diego Sockers. Tickets for the contest are available at kccomets.com/tickets.