Tropics will take on Kansas City in semifinals; April 16 in KC and home on Saturday, April 23

LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Tropics will meet the Kansas City Comets in the Major Arena Soccer League Ron Newman Cup playoff semi-finals, with the first game of the series Saturday, April 16 in Kansas City.

The two teams will hook up for Game Two on Saturday, April 23 at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland. Should the teams split the first two games, a 15-minute “mini game” will be held at the conclusion of Game Two on the 23rd to determine who moves on to the MASL championship round.

Kickoff in Kansas City is set for 7 p.m. EDT,. Kickoff in Lakeland on the 23rd will be at 6 p.m. EDT. Both games will be broadcast live on the MASL’s Twitch channel. 

It is the second straight season the Tropics have advanced to the MASL semi-finals. Last year, however, games were played in a neutral site bubble because of ongoing pandemic issues. Florida lost in two straight to San Diego in games played in Kansas City, one by one goal and the other in overtime in last year’s semis. The Sockers went on to win the MASL title.

Kansas City and Florida did not meet in the 2021-22 regular season. However, in the Tropics six year history, they have met a total of 11 times, with the Tropics going 5-6 in those games (4-3 at home, 1-3 on the road).  Florida’s Ricardo Diegues is the all time active leading scorer against Kansas City in team history with 14 goals. For the Comets, the active all time leading scorer against Florida is Leo Gibson with 13 goals.

Kansas City has a goal differential advantage of just plus seven in those 11 games. The most recent meeting between the two came last season on Jan. 10, 2021, which Florida won 7-4 in Lakeland. 

“Obviously, if you’re in the final four, you’re going to be playing a great opponent. Kansas City has a deep and talented roster and will represent a tremendous challenge for us, but we feel good about where we are at,” Florida Coach Clay Roberts said. “We’ve already had some great training sessions in preparation for the Comets  and have confidence in our abilities in preparation to put us in position to get the result we are all looking for.”

Winners of the Eastern Division, Florida comes in the No. 2 overall seed in the playoffs following an 18-3-2 regular season, while Kansas City took the regular season title in the Midwest Division with a mark of 13-9-1. They are the No. 3 overall seed by virtue of winning their division.

In the other semi-finals matchup, the San Diego Sockers will meet the Chihuahua (Mexico) Savage. 

Ticket information for the Tropics home game on April 23rd will be released shortly. For more information, visit www.fltropics.com