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MASL Regular Season- Matchdays 8 and 9
Kansas City Comets vs Dallas Sidekicks
Game 1: Friday, Feb. 19, 7:00 p.m. CST
Game 2: Sunday, Feb. 21, 5:00 p.m. CST
Where: Cable Dahmer Arena, Independence, Missouri
Tickets: Ticketmaster
How to Watch: Single Game Pass
The Kansas City Comets are looking to get back above .500 with a two-game sweep of the Dallas Sidekicks this weekend.
Their first game of the weekend will come on Friday night before the two sides meet again on Sunday. A two-win weekend for the Comets would extend their winning streak to four games and bring them back above .500 for the first time since the beginning of the season.
Currently second in the MASL, forward Adam James leads the Comet with nine goals. Leo Gibson and Lucas Sousa have also combined for 17 points. The Comets enter this weekend in fourth place with a 3-4 record and .429 winning percentage. Despite all the fantastic saves that goalkeeper Nicolau Neto has made, with a 5.71 goals against average, he sits at the bottom of the table in GAA.
Defender Matt Lewis leads the MASL with 14 penalty minutes. John Sosa and Ramone Palmer are also towards the top of the table in penalty minutes, combining for 19 in total.
The Comets will be without defender Kyle McLagan for the remainder of the season, who has returned to Iceland. Midfielder Hector Solorio is also listed as doubtful for Friday.
The big news earlier in the week was the return of James Togbah as well as the addition of Dominic Francis. The pair of All-Stars will be available to play this weekend. Francis will be looking to score at Cable Dahmer Arena for the fourth straight time, starting his KC scoring streak in March of 2019 as a member of the Harrisburg Heat. He scored again in KC as a member of the Heat in February of 2020 before scoring in his third straight game in KC as a member of the East team in the MASL All-Star Game.
In six meetings between the Comets and Sidekicks, the Comets hold an overall record of 5-1. KC’s only loss came last season, but the Comets have since defeated the Sidekicks twice this season, one coming in the Central Cup and the other coming in the season opener. This will be Dallas’ second ever visit to KC as their only previous visit came in February of 2017 when the Comets handed the Sidekicks a 7-5 loss.
Dallas Sidekicks
The Dallas Sidekicks enter this weekend with a 1-5 record. Under head coach Simon Bosas, the Sidekicks sit last in the MASL with a .167 winning percentage.
With their poor record Dallas are still expected to give KC a couple of tight matchups. Before last weekend’s narrow defeat to the Florida Tropics, Dallas found their only win this season in overtime against the Tacoma Stars.
Dallas is led by forward Felipe De Sousa, who is third in the league with eight goals in just four games. Freddy Moojen and Oscar Romero have also combined for nine points. The Sidekicks’ lone All-Star representative, Lipe Andrade, has contributed two goals in five games. Dallas keeper Juan Gamboa sits at the bottom of the MASL with a .670 save percentage.
While improbable, a weekend sweep of the Comets would put the Sidekicks in a much better position. They would sit with a 3-5 record and guarantee them to be out of last place in the MASL for the first time this season.
Final Predictions
A two-game sweep of the Sidekicks won’t be as easy as it may look. The Sidekicks gave the Florida Tropics a good fight last weekend and they previously beat the depleted Tacoma Stars. The Sidekicks tend to keep games close and have only gotten blown out once last month.
The most likely scenarios would be a Comets sweep or a split. For my final prediction, I believe the KC will win on Friday but Dallas will get the win on Sunday. The Comets will bring intensity on Friday night, however, Sunday games are generally slower, which will favor the Sidekicks and their style of play.