Comets host I-70 Series opener against Ambush

by Nathan Dunn

Kansas City Comets vs Milwaukee Wave

MASL Regular Season

Sunday, December 3 — 4:05 p.m. CT

Where | Cable Dahmer Arena - Independence, Missouri

TV | 38 the Spot (local)

The Kansas City Comets will look to keep building momentum in the 2023-24 MASL campaign when they host another rival in the St. Louis Ambush on Sunday at Cable Dahmer Arena.

Sunday's contest will mark the first of six meetings between the I-70 rivals in the regular season. The Comets are hoping to keep building from their season-opening win.

The Comets are coming from an impressive 9-3 win to open the season last Sunday over the Milwaukee Wave. Kansas City swept the MASL Players of the Week. Zach Reget's first-half hat trick won Offensive Player of the Week, Berto Palmer's 10 blocks in the first game since his return home earned him Defensive Player of the Week and Nicolau Neto's 16-save performance earned Goalkeeper of the Week.

"In this game, I expect us to be better defensively and offensively," said Comets head coach Stefan Stokic. "Our mindset and mentality needs to be stronger. Our goal is to improve each game."

While last week's win was impressive, the team is ready to attack a new opponent. They will be hoping to avoid going down a man, which led to two of Milwaukee’s goals last week. Defender Chad Vandegriffe will be available to make his Comets debut after serving a one-game suspension for point accumulation that carried over from last season.

Vandegriffe, a native of St. Louis, began his career with the Ambush before joining Milwaukee, where he was a member of their 2019 Ron Newman Cup championship. He spent the previous three seasons with the Florida Tropics, earning 2022 MASL Defender of the Year before signing with the Comets as a free agent. Vandegriffe and Palmer are the two all-time blocks leaders in MASL history.

The Comets' only injury concern for Sunday is rookie midfielder Leonardo Acosta (right hip strain), who is questionable.

Kansas City is 23-15 all-time against the Ambush with a 13-5 record at home. The Comets took the season series last year 4-2, winning all three games at home and taking a road win.

The Ambush opened the season on Black Friday with a 2-1 overtime loss on home turf against Milwaukee. They showed some resilience behind the ball as goalkeeper Paulo Nascimento held the Wave to one goal in regulation and stopped 18 shots in the contest.

"Against us, I feel like he goes to another level," Stokic said about Nascimento. "I know it will be hard for us to score goals. We will be good if we stay disciplined and stick with the game plan."

In last week’s loss, the Ambush stayed out of the penalty box but were unable to capitalize on Milwaukee’s two-minute penalty in the fourth quarter.

Sunday will mark a return to Cable Dahmer Arena for ex-Comets players Richard Schmermund, Mike Da-Silva, Ali Sodal and James Togbah. They all saw action in last week's loss to the Wave.

The Ambush will be without Sam Guernsey (ankle) and Robert Kristo (quad) while Christian Briggs (undisclosed) is questionable and Marcel Berry (undisclosed) is probable.

The game is approaching a sellout with limited tickets available. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.