Comets looking to continue New Year's Eve tradition

Kansas City Comets @ St. Louis Ambush

MASL Regular Season — Game 9

When: Wed, Dec. 31 - 3pm CT

Where: Family Arena, St. Charles, MO

Broadcasts: CBS Sports Golazo | Sportworld | Unbeaten Network | Fox Sports Mexico (Mexico only)

The Kansas City Comets will spend New Year’s Eve on the road for a fifth consecutive year. If it is anything like the previous four, the Comets will have a joyful celebration back to Kansas City.

The Comets have won all four of those NYE meetings by a single goal, with the last three coming at Family Arena against the Ambush. The franchise is 8-2 all-time on New Year’s Eve, posting a 4-1 record at Family Arena.

The Comets won last year’s NYE meeting with a 4-3 verdict as both teams pitched a second-half shutout to give the Comets the I-70 Series Cup. With the year’s series already wrapped up, the Comets hope to keep St. Louis off the board and move to a 5-0 series lead.

Wednesday’s meeting will be the third consecutive matchup between the two sides. In the most recent meeting on Dec. 27, the Comets led most of the way to take a 9-6 win on home turf as Zach Reget and Rian Marques each tallied a hat trick.

Reget and Marques accounted for both of the power play goals, with the duo among the league leaders in scoring. Reget sits at the top with 18 points and 12 goals while Marques is second with 10 goals and tied for third with 11 points.

The Comets found some power play success in their most recent encounter with St. Louis, scoring twice with a man advantage after beginning the season 1 of 7. KC has also shown resilience on the penalty kill this year, fending off 10 of 12 penalties, while also scoring short-handed twice.

The Comets have been especially strong to end each half, outscoring opponents 16-9 in the second quarter and 18-13 in the fourth quarter. The Comets hope to come out for the second half stronger, having been outscored 15-10 in the third quarter in the opening eight games.

The Comets will be without Marcel Berry and Erik Pereira due to injury while goalkeeper Julio Coronado is questionable. The quartet of Reget, Marques, Phillip Ejimadu, and Leo Acosta is probable.

Kansas City has won five straight against St. Louis, also taking nine of the last 10 meetings. The Comets’ last defeat in Family Arena came in February 2024 with a 6-5 overtime defeat.

St. Louis Ambush

The Ambush sit fifth in the MASL standings with a 2-3-1 record, with all four defeats coming against the Comets.

STL’s victories came against the Empire Stryker and Milwaukee Wave five days apart earlier this month. They came back from a two-goal deficit to earn a point last time the Comets visited on Dec. 21, but lost in a shootout.

They hope to end their New Year’s Eve curse against the Comets, having lost four consecutive years, with the last three coming against KC.

Among the big offseason signings in the MASL has been Daniel Torrealba for the Ambush. The former Texas Outlaw has already tallied 10 points from seven goals and three assists, with seven of those points coming against the Comets. Torrealba has been held scoreless just three times in 20 games through his first two seasons in the league.

Ambush goalkeeper Paulo Nascimento has come up big for his team time and time again this season. He leads the MASL with 77 saves this season and is seventh in career saves.

STL has listed James Thomas as doubtful. The trio of James Togbah, Christian Briggs and Mario Falsone are doubtful.

The series will conclude with Game 6 on Sunday, Jan. 4, when the Comets host the Ambush at Cable Dahmer Arena. Tickets for Sunday’s series finale can be purchased at kccomets.com/tickets.