Getting To Know Your MASL Opponents - Missouri Comets

Originally Founded: 1979

League Championships:  1993, 1997 (both as "Kansas City Attack"), 2014

Arena: Silverstein Eye Centers Arena (Indpendence, MO)

History:

The Kansas City Comets, as they were originally known, came into being in 1979 after having been in Detroit as the "Lightning". By thew early '80s the Comets were the epitome of cool in the Kansas City metro area. From their rocking laser light show, electro-pop entrances to their ability to finish games, the Comets were an attraction that caught the imagination of their city. By 1984, the Comets averaged above 15,000 fans and were regulars in the MISL playoffs. Those teams of Gino Schiraldi, Jan Goosens, Gordon Hill, Greg Makowski and company inspired a legion of devoted fans (most famously Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl). One rookie who broke through on this star-studded team was defender Jeff Kraft, who has gone on to become the first head coach in Rampage history. Kansas City fell victim to it's own success before the dawn of the 1990s, and as attendance dropped, the franchise could not sustain it's budget under the revenue. When the AISA (later known as the NPSL) expanded in 1989, a new ownership group was awarded a franchise and the Kansas City Attack ensured there would be no stoppage of indoor soccer. The Attack were immediately competitive, reaching the semifinals their first year. By 1993, they were champions of the league. Routinely one of the best franchises by years end, the Attack developed a fierce and physical rivalry with another of the NPSL model teams, the St. Louis Ambush. The Ambush ended Kansas City's season in 1995 en route to their first title, and KC responded by doing the same to the Ambush two season's later before capturing the 1997 title. When the NPSL disbanded, Kansas City stayed alive as part of the new MISL, but back to single-point goals ushered a re-brand back to the Comets. After a hiatus late last decade, the now "Missouri Comets" returned to suburban Independence in the newly re-organized MISL.

Today:

The Missouri Comets are what you might call the closest thing to the New England Patriots of indoor soccer. From the iconic logos, the rise in stature through the 1990s, to the late blooming into a powerhouse franchise today, it's an analogy that works on many levels.Last season they added another chapter that reads like recent Patriot history: an undefeated regular season that fell short of a title. Despite riding a 2014 championship and a wave of momentum through the 2014-15 MASL season, the red-hot Comets could not overcome the Baltimore Blast in the division finals. Despite this fact, the Comets have to be favorites to take the MASL title back in 2016. Led by arguably the best coach in the league, with many of the best players in the league, and backed by the vocal and numerous Comets Nation supporters, the Comets are no doubt one of indoor soccer's elite franchises.

Notable players/coaches:

Head Coach Vlatko Andonovski is undoubtedly becoming one of the coaching giants of the American indoor and outdoor game. Besides leading the Comets to the 2014 championship and a 2015-16 undefeated regular season in the world's toughest indoor soccer league, you may have seen Andonovski on Fox Sports 1 this summer winning back-to-back championships as head coach of FC Kansas City of the NWSL. Here he is in the post-match press conference of the NWSL Championship Final, being praised by two women who won both a World Cup and a club title in 2015...

Liberian forward Leo Gibson was the most lethal weapon on a potent Comets team last year, winning the league MVP award in the process. Not surprisingly, Gibson led the league with 93 points on a remarkably balanced and league-leading 48 goals with 45 assists. As a teammate of Chile Farias and Hewerton Moreira, Gibson won a championship with the Detroit Ignition before joining Missouri and winning it all in 2014. It's hard to argue that Leo Gibson is not the best field player in indoor soccer today.

Captain and midfielder Vahid Assadpour is Mr. Consistency, rarely not scoring or assisting multiple times in a match. This midflield engine was also on the two championship teams as a teammate with Gibson on the 2009 Detroit Ignition and 2014 Missouri Comets.

Iowa soccer fans will remember Costa Rican midfielder Bryan Perez as the dead ball specialist of the Des Moines Menace a couple seasons back. Man of the Match on multiple occassions, Perez is a member of the US National Futsal team.

Getting to Know Your MASL Opponents - Detroit Waza

Founded: 2008

League Championships: None (PASL Eastern Winners in '12 & '13, Arena Open Cup '13)

Arena: Dort Federal Credit Union Events Center (Flint, MI)

History:

Detroit was once somewhat of a Mecca of indoor soccer. In the 1990's it was a year round attraction, boasting competitive teams in both the Detroit Rockers in the winter NPSL, and the Detroit Neon (later Safari) in the summer CISL. Led by former Chicago Sting legends Pato "Magic Man" Margetic of Argentina and the sweat-band wearing, chrome-domed Yugoslavian Drago Dumbovic (like many soccer icons, he became known by just one name: Drago), the Rockers reached the summit of indoor soccer by winning the 1991-92 NPSL Championship. Their successes both at the gate and on the field had convinced the power couple Michael and Marian Ilitch (founders of Lil' Caesars Pizza and owner of both the Detroit Red Wings and Tigers) to buy the Rockers and share Joe Louis Arena with his Red Wings.

When the 1994 World Cup was set to come to the USA, it was only appropriate that Detroit would showcase the world's greatest sporting event indoors, where the indoor game was most thriving. Shortly after it was announced that the Silverdome would become the first domed stadium to host a World Cup match, the Detroit was awarded a franchise in the one year old CISL. The CISL was formed by a group of owners in the NBA and NHL looking to add soccer tenants to their arenas in the summer months and capitalize on the soccer boom from World Cup 1994. The Palace Sports and Entertainment Group (owners of the Pistons) brought the franchise to play at The Palace of Auburn Hills. They lured Rockers stars Drago and Andy Chapman away from the Rockers with higher salaries, while Chrysler paid for the team to take on a Chrysler model as its name: the Detroit Neon. The Neon were a success at the gate, and narrowly missed the playoffs in their debut season. However, only 1996 saw the Neon make the playoffs (giving eventual champion Monterrey fits before bowing late in the final game of their series).

                                    ABOVE: Detroit Ignition celebrate 2008-09 championship.

The CISL was no more by the late 1990's due to owner differences, while the NPSL did not last long into the next decade either. In their place came the newly reformed MISL and the Detroit Ignition. The Ignition took up residence at the sparkling, suburban Compuware Arena and became an elite organization for a city whose economy was being battered. Despite crowds nearly half of those for the organizations that preceded them, in an arena a fourth as large, the Ignition thrived on the field. They reached the title game in their first season of 2007 and won a championship in their final season, 2009.

Today:

Detroit Waza Flo (aka Detroit Waza or Detroit Flo) was formed by veteran players, and former Detroit Rockers, the Scicluna brothers in the lower league PASL and moved up to the MASL in the indoor league merger of 2014. They had a rough season in the step up, however they pulled off some surprises on some established powers and were rarely outclassed under head coach and former champion Rocker, Costea Decu. This year they become a part of the downtown Flint renaissance and have moved into the mutli-million dollar renovated Dort Events Center. While their attendance plummeted after their first season as their home city hemorrhaged residents, they have grown in popularity three straight years to crowds occasionally eclipsing a thousand. Despite becoming essentially a small market team, the Waza have lived up to their nickname "Waza": both the Japanese version of the word meaning "good technique" and the Swahili version of the word meaning to "think clearly". Their technique and smart business acumen have allowed the organization to survive and look to hone that technique into a playoff position.

Notable Players/Coaches:

Dominic Scicluna - Back after a mid-season trade to Las Vegas last year, player/assistant coach/co-owner "Dom Waza", as he is affectionately known, is a Detroit soccer icon. Scicluna was the hungry rookie on that 1992 Rockers championship team, and is now the veteran with a deft and sometimes dazzling touch on the ball. A natural showman and tireless promoter, the long-locked Scicluna often displays his notable freestyle skills, such as in this Ford commercial on Michigan TV...

Worteh Sampson - A former champion with the Ignition, Sampson has been terrorizing indoor defenses for years, playing in three indoor finals (in '07, '09, and '11).

Getting To Know Your MASL Opponents - St. Louis Ambush

Originally Founded: 1992

Championships: 1995 (NPSL)

Arena: Family Arena - St. Charles, MO

 





History:

St. Louis has a rich soccer history that goes back to the immigrant community known as "The Hill", where many of the famous 1950 United States' World Cup team came from. During the middle of the twentieth century, St. Louis became known as the soccer capital of the United States. It comes as no surprise then, that St. Louis has a rich history in the indoor game. Two brands have traded off over the years as the pinnacle of St. Louis professional soccer: the Steamers and the Ambush.

The indoor team that first captured the hearts of St. Louis was the St. Louis Steamers of the MISL. Founded in 1979, the Steamers were a flagship franchise for the MISL which would reach a zenith in the 1980s. The Steamers would break the indoor attendance record during the 1981-82 season at St. Louis Arena, with over 19,000 fans vs. Denver, and over 17,000 for an average attendance. Cardinal baseball great Stan Musial headed an ownership group that saw the Steamers rise. Off field success translated to on field success as St. Louis captured two division championships and fell just short in the 1982 finals. The Steamers would be no more by the late 1980s, as the MISL struggled to parlay those crowds in the early part of the decade into long-term success.

In 1992, the St. Louis Ambush were formed in the growing NPSL, with its multiple-point scoring system that awarded 1, 2, and 3 point goal lines (meant to encourage the more visually pleasing long-distance strikes). The Ambush too became a success on and off the field. Crowds often eclipsing 10,000 a match saw the Ambush reach four NPSL Championships, winning their lone title over Harrisburg Heat (also in today's MASL) in 1995. With the rise in popularity of the outdoor Major League Soccer in the late 1990s, the best players began leaving the NPSL. When crowds dwindled to under 5,000 a match in 2000, the Ambush folded a year prior the NPSL disbanding.

The Steamers were then resurrected in the new incarnation of the MISL in 2000, and held strong at an average of 5,000 spectators per match. In 2006, the Steamers lost the MISL Championship in heartbreaking fashion at a packed Scottrade Center and on ESPN2, on an overtime golden goal by the Baltimore Blast. The following year the Steamers would again be no more, and major indoor soccer was not present in St. Louis again until the Ambush were resurrected in 2013.

Today:

The Ambush are a well-run organization that mirror the Rampage in many ways. They too are run by a young owner who also owns an indoor football franchise, Andrew Haines. They too are social media savvy and do well at public relations. The Ambush's average attendance rose in their sophomore season to over 6,000 at the aptly named Family Arena in suburban St. Charles, right off the highway and a quick trip from CR (clocking in at just under 4 hours. No need to even go into St. Louis). This proximity sets up a natural rivalry with Cedar Rapids, but maybe more-so a
"soul brothers" alliance between fans, much like Chicago and Portland in MLS. The Ambush Army are a vocal and dedicated group of supporters that bring atmosphere to games in St. Louis. The kind of atmosphere that Rampage SC hope to emulate. Results on the field improved as well in their second year, going from 6th in year one, to 5th in the division last year.

Notable players/coaches:

Head Coach Daryl Doran is the Cal Ripken Jr. of indoor soccer. No one played more games at the highest level of indoor soccer in the US than him. As defensive midfielder and player-coach with the Ambush, Doran would win the 1994 NPSL Coach of the Year, the 1995 NPSL Championship and, the 1997 NPSL Defender of the Year Award. 

Midfielder Jeff DiMaria is the veteran presence, having played previously with the Steamers as well as the Colorado Rapids of MLS.

Forward Gordy Gurson of Buffalo Grove, IL was a three time All-American at Robert Morris and is the young goal scoring phenom who put up some impressive scoring numbers last year, en route to winning the 2015 MASL Rookie of the Year Award. He will be a handful for defenses around the league.