Comets open road trip against Monterrey Flash

by Nathan Dunn

Kansas City Comets vs Monterrey Flash

MASL Regular Season

Sunday, January 14 — 4:35 p.m. CT

Where | Arena Borregos - Monterrey, Mexico

The Kansas City Comets (7-1-1) will begin a six-game road trip south of the border on Sunday when they face the undefeated Monterrey Flash (7-0-0). They face Monterrey again on Tuesday before concluding their trip to Mexico on Friday with a matchup against the Chihuahua Savage.

While the Comets retained their spot at the top of the Eastern Conference for the time being, they are feeling some added pressure following a 7-6 overtime loss to Utica City FC on Friday. The Comets surrendered a three-goal lead before falling in overtime.

Zach Reget's two-goal performance put him level with Texas Outlaws forward Luiz Morales for an MASL-leading 24 points and 18 goals. Reget enters Sunday with an 11-game scoring streak dating back to last season.

Another Comet who has caught fire is Leo Gibson, who has scored three goals in his last two games. The franchise's leader in points, goals and assists is approaching another major record. Leo the Legend is just two goals away from equaling Kevin Koetters' record of 333 for most goals in Kansas City's indoor soccer history.

The Comets’ lone injury concern is Lalo Alonso (right thigh strain), who is probable. Robert Palmer returned to the rotation in Friday’s loss while Rian Marques is available.

While Sunday will be just the third meeting between these two franchises, they both have some memorable history against each other. The Comets won the inaugural meeting 8-7 in 2015 on the road when Robert Palmer scored the shorthanded overtime winner. Both teams went to overtime again when they met last season in Cable Dahmer Arena, with Monterrey coming out 6-5 winners.

Monterrey is the last remaining unbeaten team in the East with six regulation wins and an overtime win, currently sitting third in the East. Flash head coach Luis Jaime Borrego is back with Monterrey for the first time since 2020.

The Flash will be coming from an away visit to the Texas Outlaws on Saturday evening. Less than 24 hours later, they will have a quick turnaround to face the Comets.

The Flash are 4-0 on home turf this season, where they have outscored opponents 44-14. Their opening two games at Arena Borregos were quite astounding, with a 22-5 win over the Dallas Sidekicks and a 9-2 win over the Chihuahua Savage.

The Flash are led by Genaro Castilo, a product of Liga MX's Tigres development system. Castilo's 14 points have come from five goals and nine assists. Alexis Espinosa is the only other with double-digit points, tallying 12 points with seven goals and five assists.

The goalkeeper duties have been split between Berna Valdovinos and Christian Hernandez. Valdovinos has taken credit for five wins and made 55 saves while Hernandez has two wins with a league-leading 3.30 goals against average.

Sunday's hosts will be without Jose Antonio Medina (right knee), a former UNAM Pumas and CF Atlante midfielder who tallied a pair of hat tricks against Milwaukee and Dallas earlier this season.

Following the six-game road trip, the Comets return home for a clash with the Tacoma Stars. Tickets are available at kccomets.com/tickets.