Kansas City Comets will open MASL playoffs against Utica City. Here are details

The Kansas City Comets will face Utica City FC in the Eastern Conference semifinals to open the 2024 Ron Newman Cup Playoffs. The best-of-three series will begin Monday, April 8, at Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence.

The series will feature the two most electric environments in the Major Arena Soccer League. The Comets set a franchise record in attendance this season with an average of 4,829 fans, the league’s highest average attendance since 2016-17 (over 1,500 more than second-place Utica).

This matchup brings back bad memories for the Comets. Last season ended in Utica thanks to a stunning individual effort from Cristhian Segura, who dribbled past the entire KC defense to score a sudden-death winner in overtime.

Comets captain Nacho Flores explained that the way last season ended has fueled him ever since, especially heading into this series against Utica City. Flores, who led the Comets with 18 assists in the regular season, has an opportunity to make up for last year’s defeat.

“Every day,” Flores said. “I train with that play in my head every day because I was in the play. I was one of the players that got beat.”

The Comets are hoping for a different outcome this year. They have been playing for their playoff lives for more than a month, so they have become more accustomed to playoff-like pressure.

In early February, the Comets found themselves in a deep hole after losing eight straight. Nothing was going their way, but they kept believing.

“We realized if we didn’t win these last six, we wouldn’t make the playoffs,” Flores explained. “Our first objective as a team was to make it. We had no choice.”

The Comets are beaming with confidence now. They finished the regular season on a six-game winning streak. In their last three matches they’ve outscored their opponents 32-17.

A difficult task remains against No. 2 seeded Utica City, which took the season series with KC 2-1. The Comets, the playoffs’ No. 3 seed, are ready for the challenge.

“I want an easy series,” Flores said, “where we win here and we win in Utica. But they probably think the same way, so it’s going to be difficult.”

The series will conclude the following Monday, April 15, when Game 2 and potentially Game 3 take place in Utica, New York. The winner of the series will play either the No. 1 seed Monterrey Flash or No. 4 Milwaukee Wave in the Eastern Conference championship.

Tickets for next Monday’s playoff clash are available through Ticketmaster or by visiting kccomets.com/2024-playoffs.