Comets welcome Danny Waltman and Tacoma Stars

by Nathan Dunn

Kansas City Comets vs Tacoma Stars

Saturday, January 7 — 6 p.m.

Where | Cable Dahmer Arena - Independence, Missouri

Local TV | 38 The Spot

Stream | Twitch

The Comets will welcome Danny Waltman back to Cable Dahmer Arena on Saturday for a primetime inter-conference matchup between the Kansas City Comets (4-2-2) and Tacoma Stars (1-1-0).

Waltman spent five seasons with the Comets from 2010 until moving to his hometown team in 2015. Waltman, who won the 2014 MISL championship with the Comets, has been one of the top goalkeepers of indoor soccer for a long time.

Comets goalkeeper coach Alan Mayer spent many hours training with Waltman when he was with the Comets and developed a lot of respect for him.

“He’s very dedicated to the sport,” Mayer said. “He eats properly, he trains properly, he’s one of the finest professionals I’ve ever been associated with. He’s constantly trying to get his game better and better.”

Waltman has returned to Kansas City on several occasions since leaving, including earning MASL All-Star Game MVP in 2020, but his most recent return came last season at T-Mobile Center when 6,011 fans watched the Comets top the Stars 9-2.

After missing the playoffs last season, Waltman and the Stars are eager to qualify this season in a tough Western Conference.

Having played just two games so far, the Stars are coming from a four-week break since losing their home opener to the Monterrey Flash 10-3 on December 10.

Despite a seven-goal loss at home, the Stars won’t be an easy out on Saturday. Jamael Cox recorded a hat trick as he led the Stars to a 7-5 road win over the Empire Strykers to open their season on December 1. Other players to watch include Nick Perera and Michael Ramos. Perera is a former MASL MVP winner and has a goal and two assists this season. Ramos leads the Stars with five points from two goals and three assists.

“They are in the beginning of their season right now,” Mayer said. “They will be fresh and ready to rock and roll. They will be a good opponent for us. They have Danny in goal, who can keep them in games.”

The Comets only have one game this week for the first time all season.

The Comets enter the game coming from their first home loss and first road win of the season. After falling in overtime to the Monterrey Flash, the Comets rebounded on New Year’s Eve against the St. Louis Ambush to snatch the road win with a 6-5 result in overtime.

Through eight games, the Comets have been to overtime five times already with two overtime wins and three overtime losses. The Comets sit second in the Eastern Conference, trailing the Florida Tropics by one point.

“I think they’ve played pretty well so far,” Mayer said. “We’ve always kept the game close, so I’m just hoping that we can put a complete game together.”

James Togbah was named Defensive Player of the Week after scoring twice against the Ambush, including the game-winning goal with the Comets short-handed. Togbah is now the only player in the MASL to score a power play goal, a short-handed goal and a game-winning goal this season.

Another defender putting up some great offensive numbers is John Sosa. Sosa leads the league in points with 16, assists with 11 and blocks with 17. Nicolau Neto made 22 saves against the Ambush, becoming the first player to hit 100 saves this season.

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