Preview: Comets vs Syracuse

The Missouri Comets (4-1) host the Syracuse Silver Knights (5-1) in a battle to determine first place Saturday night. The Comets are riding a 4 game win streak after dropping their season opener in overtime.

"It's going to be a good game," Comets head coach Vlatko Andonovski commented after practice on Friday. "Syracuse is in first place and is one of the better teams in the league. Our boys have been playing some good soccer and I think it will be a good game for the fans."

This will be a test for both teams. Syracuse has feasted on weak east coast teams so far this season, beating Rochester three times and easily defeating woeful expansion side Pennsylvania twice. The Silver Knights only loss came at the hands of St Louis. The Comets have split with Milwaukee and beaten St Louis twice on the road and once at home and are tied with the Wave for second place.

Key match up: Gibson vs Santana

A microcosm of the match may just be watching Comets forward Leo Gibson versus Syracuse defender Nelson Santana. Gibson leads the league in scoring and will likely match up with the physical Santana often through the match. The Comets league the lead with 100 points while Syracuse has been stingy on defense, giving up the second fewest points in the league. The question is if that has been because Syracuse has faced the toothless Rochester and Pennsylvania teams or if their defense is as strong as the record.

Notes:

• Comets recently announced forward Geison was on loan with Hougang United in Singapore and will miss the rest of the season.
• Comets midfielders Bryan Perez and John Sosa were named to the MISL Team of the Week after notching  seven and six points respectively in last week's game against the St. Louis Ambush.
• The Comets do not often get to practice at the Independence Events Center because the indoor surface is usually taken up quickly to prepare for other events but Andonovski's team was able to get in a full practice on their home field Friday. "We haven't got to do this as often as we would like, any time we get to be on the actual playing surface it does help a little," Andonovski observed.
• The Comets annual media game is at halftime featuring local media personalities. So far my teams are undefeated in media games.