UCFC COMES UP JUST SHY IN KANSAS CITY

Independence, MO - On the back of a scoreless outing against St. Louis last night, Utica City FC made the trip to Kansas City for the second game of a back-to-back. A comeback bid fell short for Utica, who fell to KC 6-5. 

Similar to last night’s game, both teams came out in a tense, defensive affair. After a call for too many men on KC, Nilton De Andrade picked up a blue card for stopping a promising attack. Rainer Hauss stopped the Rian Marques penalty shootout attempt, pushing the game to a 4-on-4. After the penalty on Kansas City expired, Utica found a shorthanded counter and Pinal laid off a pass to Toy Tavares, who scored his first goal of the season at the 10:46 mark. A minute later, Tavares pinched the ball high up the pitch and found the top corner for a 2-0 lead and his second of the game. The Comets pulled one back late in the quarter as Nacho Flores fired a ball into the bottom corner to push the score to 2-1 at the end of the first. 

The second quarter continued with more momentum for Kansas City, and UCFC eventually caved in to the pressure. Right after the 7-minute mark in the second, Lesia Thetsane hit a volley to tie the game at 2-all. Marques got his goal in the game, turning away from the Utica defense to fire past Hauss to give KC its first lead of the game. The Comets made it four unanswered 24 seconds later as Michael Lenis poked a ball home, pushing the score to 4-2 at halftime. 

After a scoreless third, UCFC had a mountain to climb in the final 15 minutes. That mountain would get taller as Marques found a second goal just two minutes into the frame. A response was needed, and it was rookie Francesco Pagano to get one back for Utica. With 10 minutes left in the game, the score sat at 5-3 in favor of the hosts. After killing off another Kansas City power play, Utica City found another goal with Willie Spurr latching on to a bouncing ball to pull the game within one. The Comets found insurance with Thetsane’s second, capitalizing on chaos within the UCFC defensive box to restore a two-goal lead with 3 and a half minutes left in the game. With a sixth attacker on, Utica scored at the back post with Gurson’s knee pulling the game back within one at 6-5. That would be the last score of the game, as Kansas City held on at the end to prevail by one goal. 

The next match for Utica City FC is at home on March 1st, at 3 PM EST against the Milwaukee Wave. Tickets for home matches are available at uticacityfc.com/tickets.

Story by Arnav Pokhrel