KC Comets update: Two preseason matches, a look at Thetsane + goalkeeper rule changes

The Kansas City Comets indoor pro-soccer team plays host to the Wichita Wings in the first game of the preseason Central Cup Tournament Friday night at 7:05 p.m. Central Time.

The Comets then play the Omaha Kings in St. Louis at 3:30 CT Saturday afternoon. The Wings and Kings are two of the better teams in MASL2, the second tier of indoor soccer, and should provide a good test for the first-division Comets and Ambush (who play the Wings Saturday night).

Tickets can be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com.

Eager rookie Thetsane

Comets rookie Lesia Thetsane is new to the indoor game but is already highly regarded by coaches and teammates alike.

Thetsane last played for the Columbia College Cougars, where he earned AMC Newcomer of the Year, AMC All-Conference and NAIA First Team All-America. He also started eight games for Kaw Valley of the USL2.

Thetsane got his first taste of indoor pro soccer during the Comets’ August friendly with Omaha. Soon, the Lesotho, South Africa native will have a chance to show what he can do in two Central Cup matches.

“These upcoming games are to see what I have been learning,” he said. “After that game we have been training a lot and learning new things, and it will be an opportunity to apply all that I have learned in a game.”

New goalkeeper rules

The MASL this week announced a goalkeeper-possession rule change for the 2021-22 season, designed to increase the pace of games. The league had determined that teams were playing the ball back to their goalkeeper too often during possessions, slowing down the pace.

The new rule states:

Once the goalkeeper, or sixth attacker, deliberately releases the ball from his possession by foot, he is not permitted to touch the ball again in his defensive half of the field until:

• After an opponent has touched the ball;

• The ball has gone out of play (out of bounds);

• Any other whistled stoppage of play for fouls, infractions, injury, timeout, etc.

A ball released by hand from a save or goalkeeper distribution shall not be considered the first possession, so the goalkeeper is permitted an additional possession after release.

If the goalkeeper is in violation of this rule, the opposing team will be awarded a free-kick at the point of the foul, or if it takes place within the goal box, a restart at the top of the arc.

“In the MASL,” league commissioner Keith Tozer explained, “we want the ball going forward as much as we can. Our research found that too many balls passed back to the goalkeeper tended to slow the game down.”

The Comets typically liked to play out of the back and use their keeper as another player in possession.

“It affects every single keeper in the league,” Comets keeper Nicolau Neto said. “It takes away our ability of being that extra player, of being that builder from the back.

“It does challenge us ... to be more creative and it makes the game faster, which is not a bad thing. ... It is just a matter of adaptation.”

This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 2:54 PM.