Comets visit Utica City for penultimate regular season game

Kansas City Comets @ Utica City FC

MASL Regular Season — Game 23

Friday, March 28 — 6 p.m. CT

Where | Adirondack Bank Center - Utica, NY

Broadcast | MASLTV YouTube

The final week of action in the 2024-25 regular season will take the Kansas City Comets (14-6-2) to the East Coast to kick off a doubleheader weekend on Friday against Utica City FC (12-9-1).

Kansas City is hoping to find some health and momentum this weekend with matchups in Utica and Baltimore before heading into the playoffs in San Diego next week. Injuries and illness continue to play a part in player availability this weekend.

The Comets will be without Leo Acosta (lower leg) and Henry Ramirez (lower leg) while Phillip Ejimadu (back) is doubtful. First-year midfielder Danny Malhue (illness) is questionable with Michael Lenis (lower leg) and Lucas Sousa (illness) probable to return.

Chad Vandegriffe hit the rare 70-block milestone for the first time in his career. The 6-foot-1 defender 

leads the league in blocks going into the final weekend, but Dallas defender Nestor Hernandez trails by just four blocks.

Kansas City hopes to see leading scorer Rian Marques spark back his offensive production. The target has just one goal over the past month after dealing with injury issues.

The Comets come from a 5-4 defeat to the Tacoma Stars. After trailing 3-0 in the opening quarter, the Comets rallied but could not convert enough offensively to overcome the deficit.

Losing five of their last six, the Comets are hoping to turn the tide back in their favor on the East Coast. The Comets return to Utica for the first time since ending their season last year, defeating UCFC 7-5 in Game 2 of the Conference Semifinals.

The Comets are 3-2 all-time against UCFC in the regular season and 1-1 at Adirondack Bank Center. A win on Friday would clinch the Comets' season sweep of UCFC in two games after winning their first meeting on March 1 by a score of 4-3.

The Opponent

Utica City FC is also locked into the playoffs but is still fighting for seeding. After Friday's game, they will host the Texas Outlaws on Sunday.

After winning 16 games last season, UCFC has dropped off to 12 wins this year but can get as many as 14 after this weekend. UCFC is 6-4-0 on home turf with defeats to Chihuahua, Milwaukee and twice against Baltimore.

Utica City will be without Kelvin Olveira (lower body) while Logan Roberts (upper body) is doubtful.

Despite missing action since Feb. 23, Oliveira is still among the league leaders with 42 points and 29 goals. UCFC will look to Nilton de Andrade for some offensive production, scoring 23 goals this season while Geo Alves leads the team with 14 assists.

Veteran goalkeeper Andrew Coughlin is 10-8-1 this season, making more than 200 saves in a season for the fifth time in his career. The defensive duo of Nelson Santana and Juan Alava have combined for 49 blocks this year.

If the standings remain the same, KC and UCFC will meet again next Saturday in the Ron Newman Cup Quarterfinals, but there is still time for some shakeup in the season's waning days.

After Friday’s game, the Comets will conclude the regular season against the Baltimore Blast on Sunday afternoon.