KC Comets clinch playoff spot, attendance crown as Leo the Legend hits career milestone

The Kansas City Comets clinched a playoff berth on Sunday when they defeated the Harrisburg Heat 9-4 at Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence.

With Sunday’s win, the Comets officially qualified for the 2023 Ron Newman Cup Playoffs and eliminated the St. Louis Ambush from postseason contention. Leo Gibson also scored his 300th regular-season goal as the Comets concluded their home schedule with league-leading attendance.

Sunday’s contest started well for the Comets. They went in front 2-0 with goals from Christian Anderaos and Mads Falck, who was making his debut.

Harrisburg leveled the score at 2-2 in the second quarter, but the Comets went on a three-goal run in the final five minutes of the first half. John Sosa scored twice and Ramone Palmer once. The Comets added another layer of comfort early in the third period when Zach Reget and Benji Monreal scored to make it 7-2.

Harrisburg answered with two goals in the third period but was unable to keep Lucas Sousa off the scoresheet: His 21st goal of the season made it 8-4.

Player/coach Gibson’s attacking responsibilities had been limited recently — team injury issues have forced him to play a more defensive role. But Gibson finally hit that 300-goal milestone to make it 9-4 in the fourth quarter, sliding a right-footed effort past the Harrisburg keeper.

“For me, I’m grateful for the people I’ve played with,” Gibson said of reaching the milestone. “I’ve had some incredible teammates and coaches that have contributed towards this. It’s just such a blessing.”

With a playoff spot confirmed, the Comets are hoping to get the opportunity to play in front of their home fans, who will conclude the season as the league’s leaders in attendance. Another strong crowd of 4,372 was on hand Sunday to bring the Comets’ season total to 52,264, for an average of 4,355 per game. Those are the MASL’s highest attendance figures since the 2016-17 season.

For the fifth-place Comets to be guaranteed a home playoff game, they must beat the Heat in Harrisburg and fourth-place Utica City FC must lose at home against the Baltimore Blast on the final day of the season (Saturday).

Those results would likely set up a play-in game between the Comets and Utica City at Cable Dahmer Arena on Monday, April 10.