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MASL Weekly – Week 16

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February 13, 2015 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) Comets Remain Unscathed, but Blast Finally Falter on the Road

2/11/15 - The Missouri Comets won two more games to extend their run to 18-0. Their 10-5 win in St. Louis Saturday, followed by an 11-4 rout of the Wichita B-52s Sunday were their 22nd and 23rd consecutive regular season wins going back to last season. Their last non-playoff loss was February 9, 2014 against the Baltimore Blast.

The Blast's own impressive season-opening streak of 13 wins ended abruptly when Ivan Simental converted a 2-0 break early in overtime to give the Las Vegas Legends a shocking 5-4 win. Before their first loss of the season could sink in, Baltimore had to travel to San Diego, where they suffered a 7-2 loss in one of the most anticipated games of the season. The Baltimore-San Diego rivalry which dates back to the 1982-83 season, has now officially been rekindled.

Kraig Chiles led the Sockers to victory with three goals and an assist and took the league lead with 42 goals, but he lost his league points record. Leo Gibson's five points Sunday gave him 73 on the season, eclipsing Chiles's record of 72 set during the 2012/13 season.

The Sockers, who hold the league record with 32 consecutive home regular season wins, have now won 13 straight at the Valley View Casino Center.

MASL Team of the Week

GK - Chris Toth, San Diego Sockers

Toth recorded 12 saves, a handful spectacular, as the Sockers beat the Baltimore Blast 7-2 in front of 6,274 fans on Saturday night. Toth's biggest saves came when the game was tied 1-1, stopping a point-blank volley in the final two minutes of the second quarter, and then a back post sitter in the opening seconds of the third quarter. Toth is 10-3 in net this season with a 4.82 GAA and .722 save percentage.

GK - Zeke Sanchez, Las Vegas Legends

Sanchez recorded 20 saves and allowed only 4 goals on Friday night leading the Legends to a victory over the then-undefeated Baltimore Blast. He leads the league in games played (17) minutes (1034) and number of saves (277).

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MASL Weekly - Week 16

Amerks Slip by the Comets 2-1

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February 11, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets One goal made all the difference in Wednesday night's match-up as the Utica Comets (28-13-5-1) fell to the Rochester Americans (21-26-3-0) 2-1 at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. The loss broke the Comets four-game winning streak dating back to Jan. 31. Twenty-nine of the Comets 47 games this season have ended in one-goal decisions.

Carter Bancks found the Comets' lone goal of the game but Rochester's goaltender Matt Hackett pulled through for the Americans by winning just his third game of the season for the Buffalo Sabres American Hockey League affiliate.

The Comets got things rolling just a few minutes after the initial puck drop following a quick play that developed just inside the crease. At 4:27, Hackett prepared himself for an incoming slapshot from Andrey Pedan. Hackett was able to make the initial save, but the rebound he left in front came back to haunt him as Bancks picked it up and threw it in on the backhand for the early 1-0 advantage. Brendan Gaunce was credited with the secondary assist on the play.

After being outshot through the entire first period, the Comets eventually faltered as the clock was winding down. After some board play behind Jacob Markstrom's net, William Carrier popped the puck out to Jerome Leduc just above the center slot. Leduc spiked one towards net, which ended up going top-shelf past Markstrom for the 1-1 equalizer.

Just as everyone was getting up out of their seats for the first intermission, Brady Austin buried a shorthanded buzzer beater with one second left on the clock that put Rochester up 2-1. The shorthanded goal was the first the Comets have let in all season on home ice. Former Comets forward Zac Dalpe assisted on the one-timer and the eventual game-winning goal.

The Comets were unable to capitalize on the five power-play chances that they were awarded throughout the night, which leaves them at a standstill with a total of 13 power-play goals on home ice.

The Comets will gear up for another one against the Rochester Americans this Saturday at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial at 7 p.m.

Three Stars: 1. RCH Matt Hackett (W, 22 Saves) 2. RCH William Carrier (2 assists) 3. UTI Carter Bancks (1 goal)

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Amerks Slip by the Comets 2-1

Why comets are like deep fried ice cream

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Astronomers tinkering with ice and organics in the lab may have discovered why comets are encased in a hard, outer crust.

Using an icebox-like instrument nicknamed Himalaya, the researchers show that fluffy ice on the surface of a comet would crystalize and harden as the comet heads toward the sun and warms up. As the water-ice crystals form, becoming denser and more ordered, other molecules containing carbon would be expelled to the comet's surface. The result is a crunchy comet crust sprinkled with organic dust.

"A comet is like deep fried ice cream," said Murthy Gudipati of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, corresponding author of a recent study appearing in The Journal of Physical Chemistry. "The crust is made of crystalline ice, while the interior is colder and more porous. The organics are like a final layer of chocolate on top."

The lead author of the study is Antti Lignell, a postdoctoral scholar at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, who formerly worked with Gudipati at JPL.

Researchers already knew that comets have soft interiors and seemingly hard crusts. NASA's Deep Impact and the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft both inspected comets up close, finding evidence of soft, porous interiors. Last November, Rosetta's Philae probe bounced to a landing on the surface of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, confirming that comets have a hard surface. The black, soot-like coats of comets, made up of organic molecules and dust, had also been seen before by the Deep Impact mission.

But the exact composition of comet crust -- and how it forms -- remains unclear.

In the new study, researchers turned to labs on Earth to put together a model of crystallizing comet crust. The experiments began with amorphous, or porous, ice -- the proposed composition of the chilliest of comets and icy moons. In this state, water vapor molecules are flash-frozen at extremely cold temperatures of around 30 Kelvin (minus 243 degrees Celsius, or minus 405 degrees Fahrenheit), sort of like Han Solo in the Star Wars movie "The Empire Strikes Back." Disorderly states are preserved: Water molecules are haphazardly mixed with other molecules, such as the organics, and remain frozen in that state. Amorphous ice is like cotton candy, explains Gudipati: light and fluffy and filled with pockets of space.

On Earth, all ice is in the crystalline form. It's not cold enough to form amorphous ice on our planet. Even a handful of loose snow is in the crystalline form, but contains much smaller ice crystals than those in snowflakes.

Gudipati and Lignell used their Himalaya cryostat instrument to slowly warm their amorphous ice mixtures from 30 Kelvin to 150 Kelvin (minus 123 degrees Celsius, or minus 190 degrees Fahrenheit), mimicking conditions a comet would experience as it journeys toward the sun. The ice had been infused with a type of organics, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, which are seen everywhere in deep space.

The results came as a surprise.

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Why comets are like deep fried ice cream

NASA: Comets are like fried ice cream

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February 11, 2015

Omg yum. (Credit: Thinkstock)

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

If youve ever wondered what a comet is like, go out to your favorite Mexican restaurant and order the fried ice cream. Youre welcome.

With an outer crust of crystalline ice and an interior thats highly porous, fried ice cream is great analogy for what comets are like, according a new study by NASA scientists.

The study was based on experiments with an icebox-like device called Himalaya. In the study, the scientists found that fluffy ice on the outside of a comet would crystallize and solidify as the comet travels toward the sun and gets warm. As the water-ice crystals develop, they become denser and more ordered. This causes other molecules made up of carbon to be pushed to the comets surface. The result is a crispy comet crust covered with organic dust.

The researchers said their work was inspired by recent observations made from comet probes like the European Space Agencys Rosetta and NASAs Deep Impact.

What we saw in the lab a crystalline comet crust with organics on top matches what has been suggested from observations in space, said study author Murthy Gudipati, an ice chemistry expert at NASA. Deep-fried ice cream is really the perfect analogy, because the interior of the comets should still be very cold and contain the more porous, amorphous ice.

Now were hungry for comets

In the researchers lab, the study team started with amorphous ice packs the ideal composition based on knowledge of the coldest of comets and icy moons. In this condition, water vapor molecules are quickly frozen at extremely frosty temperatures of approximately -405 degrees F.

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NASA: Comets are like fried ice cream

Comets fall short of trip to state duals

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OSAGE | The Charles City wrestling team came up just short of a trip to the Class 2A state duals on Tuesday.

The eighth-ranked (IWCOA) Comets stormed back from a 20-point deficit to defeat No. 15 Crestwood 38-34 in their first dual of the night before falling to seventh-ranked New Hampton 48-32 in the final round.

Congratulations to New Hampton, Charles City coach Kevin Wedeking said. Theyre a great team and they have a little more depth. They went to work on us and they succeeded but I liked that our kids kept fighting.

While Wedeking was proud of how his team kept fighting against the Chickasaws who recorded nine pins in a 51-24 victory over Iowa Falls-Alden in their opening dual the Comets showed they could perform under pressure against Crestwood.

The Comets (18-8) trailed Crestwood 25-5 after six weights before junior Brandon Childs started a string of six consecutive victories by Charles City wrestlers with an 8-5 decision over Neil Clement at 152.

Following wins by Andrew Koresh (160), Tanner Peterson (170), Alex Koehler (182), Nick Jacobs (195) and AJ Maloy (220), the Comets turned the deficit into a 38-25 lead on the Cadets.

We knew that Cresco was going to be tough, Wedeking said. We knew we had them at the upper weights. We just had to keep it as close as we could and hope to get on a roll.

Against New Hampton, the Comets picked up a technical fall from fourth-ranked (132) Austin Staudt who also won by technical fall in his match against Crestwoods Owen Ellingson against Carter Stochl, an 8-2 decision from Jake Niichel at 145 against Ryan Gorman and a fall in 2:45 from Childs at 152 against Drew Boeding to pull within 18-14 through six weights.

Following back-to-back pins that allowed the Chickasaws to build a 30-14 lead through 170 pounds, Charles City got back-to-back pins from Koehler and Jacobs in 36 and 24 seconds, respectively, that brought Charles City to within 30-26.

Noah Hopp helped build New Hamptons lead back to 36-26 with a fall in 3:13 against Charles Citys Luke Hillegas before the Comets Brody Tupy closed the gap to 36-32 with a fall in 3:47 over Lincoln Weber at 285.

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Comets fall short of trip to state duals

Comets Form Like Deep Fried Ice Cream Scoops

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Comets are weird. And theyre about to get weirder.

Take Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the 3-mile-wide lump of rock and ice the European Rosetta spacecraft has been orbiting since September, for example. It would smell terrible, it generates a strange radio wave song and it is much darker than expected, even darker than charcoal.

PHOTOS: Meet Rosettas Beautiful Lumpy Comet

But now, scientists at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, Calif., have added another oddity to the cometary weird list: comets are best described as scoops of deep fried ice cream.

The crust is made of crystalline ice, while the interior is colder and more porous, said Murthy Gudipati of JPL, co-author of a recent study appearing in The Journal of Physical Chemistry. The organics are like a final layer of chocolate on top.

Headed by Caltechs Antti Lignell, the researchers used a lab-based icebox instrument nicknamed Himalaya to reproduce the conditions the icy materials inside a comet would experience in deep space. They found that the fluffy ice on the surface of a comet would crystallize and harden as the comet heads toward the sun and warms up, a NASA JPL news release said.

7 Intimate Close Encounters with Comets

During water-ice crystal formation, other carbon-containing molecules are lost to space, leaving a crunchy crust with a dusting of organic material.

During lab experiments, Lignell and Gudipati flash-froze water vapor mixed with other molecules comets are known to contain, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, that are found throughout space. This rapid freezing, down to a temperature of 30 Kelvin (-243 degrees Celsius, or -405 degrees Fahrenheit), created a form of ice not found on Earth. The water vapor freezes in place, creating an amorphous ice light, fluffy and filled with pockets of space, like solid cotton candy or aerogel (known as frozen smoke).

To simulate the cometary material being heated as a comet approaches the sun during its orbit (much like the heating Comet 67P is experiencing now), Lignell and Gudipati warmed their lab-based comet to 150 Kelvin (-123 degrees Celsius, or -190 degrees Fahrenheit) and some interesting chemistry took place.

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Comets Form Like Deep Fried Ice Cream Scoops

Bill Haley & His Comets – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Bill Haley & His Comets

Bill Haley & His Comets, c. 1955 Left to right: Joey D'Ambrosio, Dick Richards in the back row, Bill Haley

Bill Haley & His Comets was an American rock and roll band that was founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band, also known by the names Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets (and variations thereof), was the earliest group of white musicians to bring rock and roll to the attention of white America and the rest of the world. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group placed nine singles in the Top 20, one of those a number one and three more in the Top Ten.[1]

Bandleader Bill Haley had previously been a country music performer; after recording a country and western-styled version of "Rocket 88", a rhythm and blues song, he changed musical direction to a new sound which came to be called rock and roll.

Although several members of the Comets became famous, Bill Haley remained the star. With his spit curl and the band's matching plaid dinner jackets and energetic stage behavior, many fans consider them to be as revolutionary in their time as the Beatles or the Rolling Stones were a decade later.

Following Haley's death, no fewer than seven different groups have existed under the Comets name, all claiming (with varying degrees of authority) to be the official continuation of Haley's group. As of the end of 2014, four such groups were still performing in the United States and internationally.

In the mid-1940s, Bill Haley performed with the Down Homers and formed a group called the Four Aces of Western Swing. The group that later became the Comets initially formed as Bill Haley and the Saddlemen c. 19491952, and performed mostly country and western songs, though occasionally with a bluesy feel. During those years Haley was considered one of the top cowboy yodelers in America. Many Saddlemen recordings would not be released until the 1970s and 1980s, and highlights included romantic ballads such as "Rose of My Heart" and western swing tunes such as "Yodel Your Blues Away". The original members of this group were Haley, pianist and accordion player Johnny Grande and steel guitarist Billy Williamson. Al Thompson was the group's first bass player, followed by Al Rex and Marshall Lytle. During the group's early years, it recorded under several other names, including Johnny Clifton and His String Band and Reno Browne and Her Buckaroos (although Browne, a female matinee idol of the time, did not actually appear on the record).

Haley began his rock and roll career with what is now recognized as a rockabilly style in a cover of "Rocket 88" recorded for the Philadelphia-based Holiday Records label in 1951. It sold well and was followed in 1952 by a cover of a 1940s rhythm and blues song called "Rock the Joint" (this time for Holiday's sister company, Essex Records). Slap-back bass, one identifying characteristic of rockabilly, was used on the Comets' recordings of "Rocket 88", "Rock the Joint", "Rock Around the Clock", and "Shake, Rattle, and Roll".[2] Prior to becoming the Comets, slapback was also used by bassist Al Rex, although to a lesser extent, on "Yodel Your Blues Away".[3] Slap-back bass was a necessity for the group because in its early years (prior to the fall of 1952), it did not feature a stage drummer, so the bass provided percussion in addition to the bass line.

"Rock the Joint" and its immediate followups were released under the increasingly incongruous Saddlemen name. It soon became apparent that a new name was needed to fit the new musical style. A friend of Haley's, making note of the common alternative pronunciation of the name Halley's Comet to rhyme with Bailey, suggested that Haley call his band the Comets. (This event is cited in the Haley biographies Sound and Glory by John Haley and John von Hoelle, and Bill Haley by John Swenson and in Still Rockin' Around The Clock, a memoir by Comets bass player, Marshall Lytle.)

The new name was adopted in the fall of 1952. Members of the group at that time were Haley, Grande, Williamson and Lytle. Grande usually played piano on record, but switched to accordion for live shows as it was more portable than a piano and easier to deal with during musical numbers that involved a lot of dancing around. Soon after renaming the band, Haley hired his first drummer, Charlie Higler, though Higler was soon replaced by Dick Boccelli (a.k.a. Dick Richards). During this time (and indeed, as late as the fall of 1955), Haley did not have a permanent lead guitar player, choosing to use session musicians on record and either playing lead guitar himself or having Williamson play steel solos.

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Bill Haley & His Comets - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Comets Explode for Four Goals in the Third Period to Sweep a Three-In-Three Weekend

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February 8, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets As the blizzard came rolling into Utica so did the Comets in their return to The Utica Memorial Auditorium as they defeated the Binghamton Senators 7-4 in a wild game that seemed to have everything on Sunday afternoon. After the victory, the Comets finished the weekend with a perfect 3-0 record and have now won four in a row.

Bobby Sanguinetti (2-0-2) and Will Acton (2-0-2) both recorded two goals each, along with three other Comets players that also found the net atleast once. Assists weren't exactly a rare commodity in Sunday's game, as Cal O'Reilly (0-2-2), Mike Zalewski (0-2-2), Dustin Jeffrey (0-2-2) and Alexandre Grenier (1-2-3) all found a pair of assists each.

The opening minutes weren't very enjoyable for the Comets as they let in two quick ones before they even hit the three-minute mark. At 1:18 Shane Prince walked into the slot and popped one off past Markstrom for the early 1-0 lead. A little over a minute later, Ryan Dzingel was awarded a penalty shot after being tripped up on a breakaway. Dzingel slipped one past Eriksson's glove side to make it 2-0.

It wasn't until the end of the first period, but the Comets finally put one on the board twenty seconds after David Dziurzynski took a cross checking penalty. Grenier was trying to pass one to the front of the net but his pass quickly turned into a goal after it deflected off of the body of a Senators defensemen, which got the Comets within one. Cal O'Reilly and Dustin Jeffrey both tallied assists.

Will Acton kept it going for the Comets in the second period after making his way around the back of Peter Mannino's net. Once Acton reached the far post, a backhander was all he needed to bury it past the sprawling Mannino for the equalizer and the short-handed goal.

Binghamton answered back five minutes later on the power play after Eriksson was called for a tripping penalty. Some minor confusion in front of the net and a shot in the slot from Derek Grant caused the puck to sneak past Eriksson, which took back the one-goal lead.

Trading goals seemed to be the trend for a while because at 17:58 Sanguinetti let one rip from the right dot and buried it glove side on Mannino to equalize it once again. O'Reilly and Grenier both received assists on the Comets third goal.

At the start of the third period, the goals started pouring in, more than they already had.

Utica took the lead for the first time in the game after a screened Mannino allowed Pedan to pound a blueline slapshot into the net to make it 4-3 at 4:08.

Ryan Dzingel tied it up again at 7:28 off of a quick pass from Buddy Robinson, but the Comets took back the lead and kept it roughly four minutes later off of a beautiful feed from Archibald which gave Sanguinetti the chance to bury his second of the game to make it 5-4.

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Comets Explode for Four Goals in the Third Period to Sweep a Three-In-Three Weekend

Comets Move To 18-0 After Defeating The Wichita B-52's At Hartman Arena

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February 8, 2015 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) Missouri Comets WICHITA, Ks (February 8, 2015) - The Missouri Comets (18-0) added one more victory to their perfect season after defeating the Wichita B-52's (8-10) 11-4 at Hartman Arena. Head coaches Vlatko Andonovski (Comets) and Kim Roentved (Wichita) played throughout the first half.

With 16 saves, Danny Waltman was named Borden Man of the Match. In addition, the Gig Harbor, Washington native recorded 26 saves on Friday against St. Louis.

League leader Leo Gibson added five more points to his name. Scoring one goal and recording four assists, the forward totals 73 points (36 goals and 37 assists).

The Major Arena Soccer League Central Division Champions were without Stefan Stokic (abdominal strain). In addition, Milan Ivanovic did not suit up, while Stephen Paterson and Cody Hoffman did not travel.

Led by Andonovski on the field, the Comets held the Wichita B-52's scoreless in the first half. Missouri finished the first quarter with a 5-0 lead after Brian Harris, Kiel Williams, team captain Vahid Assadpour assisted by Vlatko Andonovski, Bryan Perez and Josh Gardner each found the back of the net.

However, the Comets defeated goalkeeper Boris Pardo only once in the second stanza when Alain Matingou notched his only tally of the evening assisted by Perez to end the half 6-0.

Wichita was able to score in the third quarter courtesy of Alex Moseley and Kevin Jackson but Gibson, Assadpour and Perez all scored to end the third stanza with a temporary 9-2 score.

The last and fourth quarter saw the Comets score twice in a row when Harris and Andre Braithwaite each beat Pardo on goal. Late in the quarter, the home team added two more goals to the scoreboard, both scored by team leader Matt Clare ending the match with a final score of 11-4.

Next up, the Comets will look to close the regular season undefeated when they host the Tulsa Revolution and the Tacoma Stars at the Independence Events Center.

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Comets Move To 18-0 After Defeating The Wichita B-52's At Hartman Arena

Match Preview: Comets Visit the Wichita B-52s

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February 7, 2015 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) Missouri Comets INDEPENDENCE, Mo (February 8, 2015) - The Missouri Comets (17-0) will try to sweep the series and add another victory to their seventeen-game winning streak when they visit the Wichita B-52's (8-8) at Hartman Arena on Sunday.

The match will feature both head coaches play multiple shifts throughout the four quarters as a way to honor former Comets player and coach Kim "The Rocket" Roentved's indoor soccer career.

Both teams will meet for the third team this season. The reigning MISL Champions defeated Wichita twice at the Independence Events Center, a 13-3 victory on November 22 and a 12-3 win on December 13.

Andonovski's team is coming from a solid 10-5 victory over the St. Louis Ambush on Friday night at the Family Arena. On the other hand, the men in orange will host the Milwaukee Wave at 7:05 p.m. CT tonight.

With seven points (three goals and four assists) on Friday, league leader Leo Gibson stands at the top of the table totaling 68 points, while the B-52's are led by Matt Clare who has scored 24 times and recorded 6 assists for a total of 30 points.

Goalkeeper Boris Pardo, forward Byron Alvarez and midfielders Chaz ODell and Johnny Markey have all played for the Comets in the past.

The B-52's can still clinch a playoff berth depending on Milwaukee and Chicago's results towards the end of the regular season. On the other hand, the Comets secured the Central Division title two weeks ago.

Next up, the Comets will return to the Independence Events Center on Valentine's Day when they host the Tulsa Revolution.

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Match Preview: Comets Visit the Wichita B-52s


  1. Comets