‘My boys will show up for the playoffs’: Comets open postseason in San Diego this week
The Kansas City Comets are ready for a fresh start after a grueling 24-game regular season of indoor pro soccer.
They’ll get it this week as the Major Arena Soccer League’s single-elimination playoffs begin in San Diego.
The Comets enter the playoffs — their opener in California is Friday — following a 15-7-2 season. They earned the No. 4 overall seed, joining the San Diego Sockers as the only teams to qualify for each of the last five Ron Newman Cup Playoffs.
KC’s postseason journey will begin with a quarterfinal game against longtime rival Milwaukee Wave — a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Championship series. That match is set for Saturday, April 5, at the Sockers’ home pitch inside the new Frontwave Arena.
If the Comets defeat the Wave, they will play in the semifinals on Sunday against the winner of Friday’s Chihuahua Savage-St. Louis Ambush match.
Battling Injuries, Fighting On
The Comets’ regular season posed some significant challenges because of a seemingly never-ending list of injuries.
They dealt with injuries to star players from the first day of preseason, and injuries never let up through the end of the season. The Comets persevered and went on an eight-game winning streak, but nine games in March provided a difficult task as they went 3-6 to end the year.
“We should have done a lot better, especially closing out the year,” Comets coach Stefan Stokic said. “We had a really good start but had a lot of injuries and illnesses that were a longer period of time. With everything that happened, I think we did well, but I always strive to do better.”
After losing five of six before last weekend, the Comets pulled off their largest come-from-behind victory of the season on Friday, March 28, defeating Utica City FC 7-6 on the road.
Friday’s victory was the Comets’ 15th win, their most in a regular season since 2016-17.
Trailing 4-1 in the third quarter, the Comets came back, scoring the equalizer with just 14 seconds left in the game to send it overtime. After the Comets earned a two-minute penalty, midfielder Lucas Sousa scored the game-winner on a shootout attempt, taking a touch to roll the ball forward before a composed strike to the keeper’s right.
Two days later, the Comets rotated their lineup and battled well in another road matchup against the Baltimore Blast. Their tired legs got exposed in the fourth quarter as they suffered an 8-5 defeat to conclude the regular season.
Gaining some momentum in the final weekend, it is now win or go home as the Comets head to San Diego to begin their playoff journey.
The Comets will hold nothing back as they look to return to the Ron Newman Cup Championship Series for the second straight year.
“I will say this: My boys will show up for the playoffs,” Stokic said.