2021 RON NEWMAN CUP SEMI-FINAL MATCHUPS ARE SET

by Pete Richmire

The 2021 Ron Newman Cup Playoffs Semi-Final round matchups are set. By winning the regular season championship, the Florida Tropics received a First-Round bye and ability to select their opponent for this round. The Tropics have selected the San Diego Sockers which will set the other series as the Ontario Fury vs the Kansas City Comets.

Florida, who finished the regular season 10-3 will face a San Diego team which played two overtime games to dispatch the Tacoma Stars in the opening round of the playoffs. The teams only met once during the regular season with the Sockers topping the Tropics 4-3 in overtime at the RP Funding Center on February 19.

The Fury and Comets both won their first-round series in two games with Ontario topping Dallas and the Comets defeating St. Louis. Like Florida and San Diego, Ontario and Kansas City only squared off once during the regular series, ending in a one-goal game. The Comets scored four straight fourth-quarter goals to beat Ontario 7-6 at Cable Dahmer Arena on March 7.

Game 1 of Florida vs San Diego will kick off at 2:05 pm CT on Thursday April 1, and Ontario vs Kansas City will have a start time of 7:05 pm CT on the same day. Game 2 will have the same teams, with the same times on Saturday April 3. Should a series be tied after two games, a 15-minute mini-game will follow the conclusion of Game 2 by approximately 30 minutes.

All Semi-Final games will take place at Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, MO. Every round and game of the playoff schedule is subject to change due to COVID protocols or where MASL Commissioner Joshua Schaub finds changes necessary in the best interest of the League.

The Ron Newman Cup Finals will take place Friday April 9 and Sunday April 11. Should San Diego AND Ontario advance, the Finals will take place at Toyota Arena in Ontario, CA. If either Florida OR Kansas City advance, the Finals will be at The Family Arena in St. Charles, MO.

Limited, socially distant tickets are available for all four games at Cable Dahmer Arena through Ticketmaster, or by calling (888) 9-COMETS. Fans who wish to watch online can see every game at https://www.facebook.com/MASLsoccer/events. The MASL Playoff Pass is available which includes every game, both live and archived for $39.99, or single games are $7.99 each.