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.