KC Comets celebrated Retro Night (and 43 years of indoor soccer) by beating St. Louis

On a night when the Comets celebrated the 43-year history of professional indoor soccer in Kansas City, it was 22-year-old Leo Acosta who came up clutch for the Comets as they defeated the St. Louis Ambush 8-5 on Sunday, Feb. 16.

Amid the Comets’ annual Retro Night celebration, with the team wearing throwback blue jerseys from the 1990-91 season, the Comets had let an early 3-0 lead turn into a 4-3 deficit. After a drought of about 40 minutes without a goal, Zach Reget scored the equalizer to set up Acosta’s big moment.

It all began when Guererro Pino stuffed MASL’s all-time leading scorer, Franck Tayou of the Ambush, in a dangerous one-on-one situation. Pino, the reigning MASL Defender of the Week, then blocked the follow-up attempt, from which Acosta cleared away from danger before racing up the turf to stick his right foot out and finish the counterattack.

“I try to do whatever I can to help the team win,” Acosta said. “I got lucky I was in the right spot at the right time. I’m just happy that I got the goal.”

The Comets added three more scores after Acosta’s to emerge victorious 8-5 and take the season series 4-1. The team’s celebrations ensued shortly after the final buzzer as former Comets and St. Louis Steamers midfielder Ty Keough presented the I-70 Series Cup to Comets captain Nacho Flores.

“I see a lot of great players here that used to play for the Comets,” Comets coach Stefan Stokic said. “It’s an honor to have them come watch us and be around us. It makes it a little bit more special tonight.”

Flores and Acosta were two of six players who represented the Comets at the MASL All-Star Game on Feb. 12 in Utica, New York. Acosta joined Comets goalkeeper Nicolau Neto on Team Kelvin, which defeated Team Perera 7-3.

Neto helped Team Kelvin win the All-Star Game and won the Goalkeeper Battle in the All-Star Skills Challenge. The Comets veteran knocked off Baltimore’s Mike Zierhoffer and Milwaukee’s William Banahene.

With the timing of the All-Star Game, the Comets had one full practice with the entire team before Sunday’s victory. Stokic was glad his team didn’t use that as an excuse after extending its winning streak to a league-high five games.

“We still haven’t found our rhythm,” Stokic said. “Yes, we’ve won games. We play one really good; then the other one we play OK, but still win. With the talent we have, we have to build that momentum.”

Kansas City hopes that momentum will carry into March when it concludes the regular season with nine games.

The Comets will visit the Harrisburg Heat this weekend for games on Feb. 22-23. They return home to Cable Dahmer Arena on March 1 to host Utica City FC with the annual Celebrity Game at halftime.