KC Sports Magazine digs into the only sports realm where the KC-STL rivalry has truly developed: indoor soccer.

The rivalry between Kansas City and St. Louis has often only occurred outside of sports. That is not the case between the two cities regarding indoor soccer. The Major Arena Soccer League, and indoor soccer historically, is filled with compelling rivalries. Kansas City and St. Louis indoor franchises are no strangers to that list.

Perhaps the only sport where the Kansas City-St. Louis rivalry has truly developed has been indoor soccer. These two cities have been battling it out indoors for more than four decades when the original Kansas City Comets regularly drew large crowds at Kemper Arena and the St. Louis Steamers, with baseball great Stan Musial as part of their ownership group, regularly outdrawing NHL’s St. Louis Blues.

I-70 Series Part I: The KC v STL Overview

In those early days of the Comets, much of the team’s talent came from St. Louis. Some of the early Comets players from St. Louis included Kevin Handlan, Gary Amlong, Bob Bozada, Tim Clark, Joe Filla, Mark Frederickson, John Hayes, Greg Makowski, Art Kramer, John Stremlau, Tim Twellman and Greg Villa. While the Comets had no KC products on their roster, about 75% of the Steamers’ roster were local St. Louis products. That only added to the fuel of the rivalry.

The first-ever KC-STL matchup was a 7-4 win for the Steamers in November 1981 in front of 18,326 spectators at the Checkerdome in St. Louis. The result wasn’t a great surprise considering the Comets were a new team after relocating from San Francisco while the Steamers were back for their third season after falling in the 1981 MISL Finals.

KC hosted the Steamers on Dec. 29 and lost in a 3-2 effort behind a big 28-save performance from Steamers debut goalkeeper Manny Schwartz (a future Comet) in front of 11,864 fans at Kemper Arena.

That first year for the Comets was rough. After a 2-7 start, the Comets boldly decided to part ways with head coach Luis Dabo, who took the job after St. Louis native Pat McBride declined. With that job now re-opened, McBride ended up accepting the job this time around.

Even McBride’s appointment wasn’t enough to salvage a playoff spot as the Comets finished bottom of the Western Division with a 14-30 record. On the other side of the state, the Steamers proved to be the best in the West only to lose to the New York Arrows in the championship series for the second straight season.

The Comets came back the following year to earn a playoff spot as they joined the Steamers with a 26-22 record before both teams got dumped in the first round as McBride earned Coach of the Year honors. The next year the Steamers returned to the top of the division and met the Comets in the divisional semifinals, beating KC 3-2 in the best-of-five series before losing to Baltimore in the championship.

The tide turned in the 1985 playoffs. The Comets and Steamers met in the opening round but this time the Comets came out on top with two overtime wins to take the best-of-three series before getting swept by San Diego. The Steamers eventually folded in 1988, followed by the Comets and the MISL in 1992.

Rivalry Resurrected in the NPSL

The KC-STL rivalry returned in 1992-93 when the Kanas City Attack and St. Louis Ambush were both in the National Division of the adventurous NPSL. Both teams immediately found success. The Attack finished their inaugural season in Kansas City second in the division and went on to face the Ambush in the semifinals, beating them in a three-game series after an overtime goal from defender Ed Carmean sent the Comets to the Finals, where they beat Cleveland to win KC’s first-ever indoor soccer championship.

The Attack went from first to worst as they finished with a 14-26 record in 1993-94 as the Ambush made it all the way to the championship series before falling to Cleveland. In 1994-95 the Ambush beat the Attack by one game to win the divisional crown before beating KC again in a five-game series in the semifinals before sweeping Harrisburg to win St. Louis’ only indoor soccer championship.

The Attack came back the following year to win the division crown and beat the Ambush in the semifinals, only to blow a 2-0 lead against Cleveland and lose the championship series 4-2. The Attack came back in 1996-97 and got red-hot in the playoffs as they beat Wichita before sweeping Buffalo, St. Louis and Cleveland to win the franchise’s second NPSL title.

I-70 Series Part II: Baseball’s I-70 Origins

Once again, the Attack followed up their championship with an underwhelming campaign the following year. After going .500 during the regular season, KC beat Edmonton in the opening round before getting swept by the Ambush in the conference semifinals. The Ambush went on to lose against Milwaukee in the Finals that year. The I-70 NPSL rivalry concluded when the Ambush folded in 2000.

The two cities did face each other once again when the Attack rebranded as the Comets and St. Louis revived the Steamers name to rejoin the Comets in the new MISL in 2003. Their rivalry was once again put on hold when the Comets folded in 2005 and the Steamers in 2006.

Comets vs Ambush Today

Nowadays, this rivalry is still very much alive in its fourth configuration. The Comets name was revived in 2010 before the Ambush name was revived in 2013. The Comets dominated the rivalry for the first several years, beating the Ambush in 11 straight games before finally registering their first I-70 win in December 2015. They still struggled mightily against the Comets, but have become much more competitive since 2018.

The days of St. Louis talent flowing to Kansas City are long gone, though players still do occasionally move to cross-state rivals as exemplified by Stefan St. Louis (KC to STL), Kevin Ellis (KC to STL) and Richard Schmermund (STL to KC; KC to STL).

After missing the playoffs each of the first seven seasons, the Ambush made their postseason debut in the 2022 MASL season, but that was short-lived as the Comets swept the two-game series.

Return to kcsportonline.com next Wednesday, November 1, for Part IV: Exhibiting the Rivalry in the NFL.

Part I: The KC vs STL Overview — Released on Oct. 11

Part II: Baseball’s I-70 Origins — Released on Oct. 18

Part III: True Rivals Indoors — Released on Oct. 25

Part IV: Exhibiting the Rivalry in the NFL — Released on Nov. 1

Part V: Hockey’s Limited Action — Release on Nov. 8

Part VI: Soccer is the Past, Present and Future — Nov. 15