Kansas City Comets end grueling stretch with loss to Sockers, shift focus to Wave

The Kansas City Comets are reeling, ending a grueling six-game run with three straight losses and a mounting injury list.

After winning the first three, the Comets ended the stretch with three losses and a pile of injuries. The playoff-bound Comets hope these injuries aren’t too severe with playoffs starting April 4.

The Comets added six players to the 10-man injury report during the most recent slate of games, including leading scorers Rian Marques and Zach Reget. Missing those vital offensive leaders, among others, did not help them on Friday, March 7, when they lost 9-4 in Mexico against the Chihuahua Savage.

The Comets played well for most of the game, even jumping out to single-goal leads twice in the first quarter, but conceded four times in the second quarter. That was too high of a mountain to climb against the back-to-back Major Arena Soccer League champions, who haven’t lost at home in over a year.

The Comets returned home on Sunday, March 9, and suffered a 7-3 defeat against the San Diego Sockers. Marques and Reget played through the pain and scored in an effort to get the Comets closer to a top-two seed, but it was not enough.

“I don’t think it’s a lack of effort; it’s a lack of quality,” Comets coach Stefan Stokic said. “Being a championship team, you always have to have the quality, no matter what.”

Sunday’s loss on home turf — a rarity at Cable Dahmer Arena — was the latest signal of the dip in form. Stokic didn’t question his players’ effort but was disappointed in his team’s quality, decision-making and understanding of the game.

“I have a standard for each player,” Stokic said. “If you don’t play up to that standard, then it affects all of us. I’ve felt like with a lot of players, especially in the last five or six games, our standard has dropped.”

Even in the first three games of the stretch, the Comets’ offensive numbers fell. The Comets averaged 6.5 goals per game in their first 13 games but averaged 4.0 goals in the last six games.

The Comets hope to have an uninterrupted week focused on recovery and preparing for just one game this weekend at home against the Milwaukee Wave.

Friday’s matchup at Cable Dahmer Arena against the Wave will be an opportunity to get back on track against a longtime rival. Tickets for Friday’s game and season tickets for 2025-26 are available at kccomets.com/tickets.