December 6, 2023 – Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) – Harrisburg Heat News Release
The Harrisburg Heat will play their home opener Saturday, December 9, 2023 against the Kansas City Comets at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex. Gametime is 7:05PM.
This is the second game of the season for the Harrisburg Heat. The Heat lost the first game on the road in Utica by a score of 7-5. Heat goals in Utica were scored by five different players as Dom Francis, Malcolm Harris, Roshawn Panton, Alejandro Arbelaez and Joey Tavernese all found the back of the net. The Harrisburg Heat were pushing to score the tying goal when Utica clinched the game with a long open net goal with just five seconds remaining in the game. Grant Glorioso recorded 18 saves in the game.
Kansas City comes to Harrisburg with a record of 2 wins and no losses. The Comets have been impressive in their first two games as they have defeated the Milwaukee Wave by a score of 9-3 and the St. Louis Ambush by a score of 7-2.
Heat Returning Scoring Power From Last Year
The Heat return their top three scorers from last year in Malcolm Harris, Dominic Francis and Danny DiPrima. In addition, the Heat return experienced defensive players with Elton de Oliveira, Robbie Williamson and Brad Kerstetter.
Key off-season acquisitions included forward Joey Tavernese, defender Onua Obasi and goalkeeper Hugo Silva. Each of these players have achieved great success in the league. Tavernese is an eleven-year veteran of professional indoor soccer. Tavernese has played for five different franchises and has proven to be an excellent goal scorer on all of them. Tavernese previously played for the Rochester Lancers, Ontario Fury, Syracuse Silver Knights, Utica City FC and the Florida Tropics. Tavernese was named to the second team all-MASL team in the 2017/2018 season. Defender Onua Obasi has played six seasons in the indoor game playing for the Baltimore Blast, Utica City FC and the Ontario Fury. Obasi was a teammate of current Heat Head Coach, Pat Healey, on the 2016 Baltimore Blast team that won the MASL title. Goalkeeper Hugo Silva returns to the Harrisburg Heat where he played from 2016 to 2018. Silva has been the starting goalkeeper for the Florida Tropics for the past five seasons. Silva was a finalist in the Goalkeeper of the Year award in the MASL for the 2019/2020 season.
Due to visa issues with Hugo Silva, Grant Glorioso will start the season as the number one goalkeeper for the Harrisburg Heat. Last year’s…