Comets Still Believe Heading to Chihuahua for Game 2 of MASL Finals
April 29, 2024 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL)
Kansas City Comets News Release
The Kansas City Comets are looking for a championship comeback, hoping to overturn Chihuahua Savage's 1-0 series lead in the Ron Newman Cup Finals. The series now shifts to Mexico, where a champion will be crowned late Tuesday night.
In a season of many twists and turns, the Comets still have belief of bringing the Ron Newman Cup to Kansas City. They will have to win Game 2 and the Knockout Game on Tuesday.
The Savage trailed in Game 1 by a score of 3-1 in the third quarter but orchestrated a come-from-behind victory as they scored the go-ahead goal with 3:44 left to play. It was a tight defensive battle that has put CUU in the driver's seat to repeat as MASL champions.
Lucas Sousa and Nacho Flores connected twice from restarts, but the Comets will look to be more efficient in front of goal and from the run of play. All of the Comets' scores came from set pieces on Sunday as they were held to three goals for the first time since February.
The Comets defense that faced 34 shots was strong once again. Nicolau Neto saved 14 shots and Chad Vandegriffe recorded five blocks. Ultimately, the Comets offense didn't produce enough against a staunch Savage defense.
After a good regular season display, the Comets' special teams has not executed well in the playoffs. They've scored on just one of seven power plays and killed just one of seven penalties.
The Comets are now 0-4 all-time against the Savage, including three losses this season. In their only previous visit to Chihuahua, which came back in January, the Comets were beaten 8-2 at the end of a brutal four-game stretch within a week.
The only team to beat Chihuahua at Corner Sport Arena this season has been the Monterrey Flash, who did it on all three of their visits. American teams went 0-12 this season with an all-time record of 4-35.
Chihuahua is happy to return to their home confines of Corner Sport Arena - perhaps the most challenging venue to visit in the MASL. That is where they overturned a 1-0 series deficit against Tacoma to win both Game 2 and the Knockout Game in the Conference Semifinals before taking Game 1 over San Diego in the Conference Finals.
Roberto Escalante sparked Sunday's Savage comeback with two goals and an assist. He scored in the final minute of the third period, assisted the equalizer, then scored the game-winner. Hugo Puentes scored the equalizer on Sunday and has come up big for Chihuahua all postseason with 12 points.
CUU's staunch defensive performance was no surprise, as they allowed the fewest goals in all of the MASL in the regular season. Diego Reynoso came up big and took credit for 13 saves in Game 1 of the series.
All of Tuesday night's action can be streamed for free through CBS Sports Golazo Network. Visit cbssports.com for more information on how to stream the Golazo Network.
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