The Swope Park Rangers (5-2-4, 6th place) and Saint Louis FC (3-4-5, 9th place) will renew the USL rivalry when the clubs meet for a second time this season at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at Toyota Stadium in Fenton, Mo.
Last month, the teams – separated by 250 miles on I-70 – played to a 1-1 draw at Children’s Mercy Park. Hadji Barry opened the scoring in the fourth minute and the Rangers led for 85 minutes until Kyle Greig grabbed a late equalizer in the first of three meetings between SPR and STLFC this year.
The result was the fourth straight draw in the series, which remains deadlocked with a single win apiece, and marked the beginning of a six-game winless run for Saint Louis FC in league play that continued on Wednesday with a 3-1 loss to Phoenix Rising FC. The defeat was Saint Louis’ first loss at home this season and capped a disappointing week for the club, which was eliminated from the U.S. Open Cup in a 1-0 loss at Louisville last week before falling 3-0 at Colorado Springs on the weekend.
Now tasked with a fourth game in 11 days, Saint Louis FC is led by first-year head coach Anthony Pulis and currently sits three points off the playoff pace in pursuit of the team’s first postseason appearance. Greig, a Kansas City native, has scored a team-high five goals this season for a Saint Louis side that traded Christian Volesky, the team’s top scorer in 2017, earlier this month and loaned Irvin Herrera, the team’s top scorer in 2016, to C.D. FAS in El Salvador.
Coming off a 1-0 win over Phoenix Rising FC on Saturday, the Rangers return to the road for an eighth time in SPR’s first dozen games. Kharlton Belmar continues to lead the league with eight goals, including a USL-best six goals on the road, while Barry is one of only three USL players with four goals and four assists this season.
Defensively, the Rangers will ride a 210-minute shutout streak into Saturday’s showdown in Saint Louis after keeping a second straight clean sheet against Phoenix, the USL’s highest scoring team. The Rangers have utilized a rotating corps of goalkeepers in 2018 with Adrian Zendejas, Eric Dick and Darrin MacLeod each recording shutouts in their last appearance.
Saturday’s match will be streamed live on ESPN+ and in-game updates will be available via the USLsoccer.com Match Center.
Game 12 of 34
Date: Saturday, June 2, 2018
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. CT
Location: Toyota Stadium (Fenton, Mo.)
Swope Park Rangers: 5-2-4 (19 points, 6th place in Western Conference)
MLS Affiliate: Sporting Kansas City
Saint Louis FC: 3-4-5 (14 points, 9th place in Western Conference)
MLS Affiliate: N/A
Game Notes: Click here
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Live Stream: ESPN+
SOCIAL TAGS
Game-specific hashtag: #STLvSPR
Swope Park Rangers
Twitter: @SwopeRangers
Instagram: @SwopeParkRangers
Saint Louis FC
Twitter: @SaintLouisFC
Instagram: @SaintLouisFC
