The Swope Park Rangers (4-3-0, 7th place) nine-game home winning streak will be put to the test at 7:30 p.m. CT on Friday against league leaders San Antonio FC (8-0-2, 1st place) at Swope Soccer Village.
Tickets for the match-up are available online at SeatGeek.com or at the venue box office prior to kickoff. The game will also be streamed live on SportingKC.com and can be followed online via the USLsoccer.com MatchCenter as the clubs kick off the first of two meetings in back-to-back weeks.
The Swope Park Rangers and San Antonio FC have amassed the most regular season wins amongst Western Conference teams since the start of the 2016 season, when both clubs joined the United Soccer League. SPR’s debut campaign saw the team reach the USL Cup Final, while San Antonio FC’s second season has started in record-setting fashion.
Led by head coach Darren Powell, San Antonio FC is the last unbeaten team in the top leagues of American soccer and is off to the best 10-game start in USL history with 26 points. After earning only three regular season road wins in 2016, San Antonio is now a perfect 4-0-0 away from home in 2017. A season-opening victory at Rio Grande Valley FC and a week-long sweep of Vancouver, Seattle and Portland in the Pacific Northwest has San Antonio in position to tie the league’s single-season record with a fifth consecutive road win on Friday.
Longest Road Winning Streaks (USL Regular Season)
6 games: Orlando City (2012-13)
5 games: Rochester Rhinos (2012), New York Red Bulls II (2016)
San Antonio’s unbeaten run and perfect road record will be up against the Swope Park Rangers’ own nine-game home winning streak and undefeated record in the three previous meetings in the all-time series. SPR secured a pair of 2-1 home victories over San Antonio a year ago, including a dramatic game-winning goal in stoppage time in the last match-up.
The Rangers will be without two key contributors on Friday as Mark Anthony Gonzalez, the team’s 2016 Offensive Player of the Year, is sidelined due to injury and on-loan defender Erik Palmer-Brown is on international duty as captain of the United States at the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. SPR is fully rested after a bye in Week 9 and will look to bounce back after being shut out for the first time this season in a 1-0 loss at Rio Grande Valley FC two weeks ago.
No Western Conference team has scored more in USL play (including postseason) than the Rangers’ 66 goals since the start of 2016, though no team boasts a better defense than San Antonio FC at the moment. Despite losing starting goalkeeper Matt Cardone to injury in Week 5, San Antonio brings a 375-minute shutout streak into Friday’s contest with seven shutouts, a league high, and only four goals against, a league low, in 10 matches this season.
Offensively, San Antonio FC has scored the second most goals in the USL this season. Billy Forbes, captain of the Turks and Caicos national team and reigning USL Player of the Month, leads the club with six goals and three assists. In addition, San Antonio FC acquired Texas native Kris Tyrpak in the offseason after he scored 10 goals for the Swope Park Rangers in 2016.
Friday’s encounter will also showcase two of the youngest goal scorers in the USL this season in 18-year-old San Antonio FC midfielder Devin Vega and 19-year-old SPR forward Nansel Selbol. The two players were on opposite sides of a double overtime thriller in the 2015-16 U.S. Soccer Development Academy quarterfinal between Sporting KC and FC Dallas last July.
Game 8
Date: Friday, May 25, 2017
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. CT
Location: Swope Soccer Village (Kansas City, Mo.)
Swope Park Rangers: 4-3-0 (12 pts), 7th in Western Conference.
MLS Affiliate: Sporting Kansas City
San Antonio FC: 8-0-2 (26 pts), 1st in Western Conference.
MLS Affiliate: New York City FC
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Live Stream: The game will be broadcast on SportingKC.com and YouTube.com/USL
Talent: Carter Augustine (play-by-play), Sam Kovzan (analyst)
SOCIAL TAGS
Game-specific hashtag: #SPRvSA
Swope Park Rangers
Twitter: @SwopeRangers
Instagram: @SwopeParkRangers
San Antonio FC
Twitter: @SanAntonioFC
Instagram: @SanAntonioFC
GAME NOTES
