Wichita Travels North To Battle Comets

The Wichita Wings will be traveling for their first game of the New Year to take on the Missouri Comets this Sunday, January 6th. This will be the fourth meeting between the two clubs this season with Missouri leading the series, 2-1. Sunday's game is set to play at the Independence Event Center, kickoff scheduled for 3:10 p.m.

The Wings three game win streak was broken in their most recent match against the Milwaukee Wave on New Year's Eve. The match showed an extreme battle of defense, resulting in a low scoring affair with the Wave shutting out the Wings with a 4-0 lead going into halftime. In the third quarter, Freddy Moojen finally came up with an answer for the Wings with their first goal of the game to bring the score, 2-4. Andrew Hoxie would continue Wichita's offensive attack by scoring the equalizer to tie the game 4 all with five minutes left in the third quarter. Luan Oliveira scored a goal for the Wave with seconds left in the third quarter to put the Wave back on top ending the third period 6-4. With his first goal on the night, Miguel Ferrer tied the score again at the start of the fourth quarter, but the Wave's Jonathan Greenfield responded with a 3-point goal to pull ahead 9-6 late in the game. In the end, Israel Sesay's first career goal on an empty net would solidify a 12-6 win for Milwaukee.

The Missouri Comets' last game resulted in a 17-9 win over the Syracuse Silver Knights, in their first home match after a four game road trip. The Comets controlled the pace in the first quarter as Mads Falck scored back-to-back goals along with a Byron Alvarez goal to enter the second quarter with a 6-0 lead. Syracuse charged back with five points in under three minutes into the second quarter and continued to push Missouri as they outscored the Comets four to two in the third quarter to take a 9-8 lead heading into the fourth. The Comets finished the game strong against the Silver Knights, scoring nine unanswered points in the fourth quarter including huge goals from Ryan Junge and Cristiano. Alvarez, finishing the game with eight points, was the main catalyst on the night for the Comets in a 17-9 Comets victory over the Silver Knights.

The last time these two clubs met on December 21, Wichita held Missouri to four points; only the second time this season Missouri has scored four points or less. The Wings have played the Comets in Independence Events Center once so far this season, and while they started out hot with a 13-0 lead and gave up the win to the Comets who scored 16 points unanswered to ultimately end the match with an 18-15 win. The fireworks will continue on Sunday when this heated rivalry is renewed on Missouri's pitch.

Key match-ups - Wings Defense vs. Byron Alvarez Sanaldo and the Wings defenders played a key role in Wichita's last game against Missouri on December 21. Thanks to a total of 17 blocks by Wings players, led by defender Victor Quiroz with four, Sanaldo only faced 15 shots saving 13 of them. Missouri's Byron Alvarez enters the game second in the league in scoring with 47 points, 11 of which have come against the Wings. Another solid defensive performance by the Wings will be the key to a victory on Sunday, especially if they can stifle Alvarez offensively.