The Swope Park Rangers (11-9-7, 7th place) will host regional rivals OKC Energy FC (10-12-5, 10th place) at 4 p.m. CT on Sunday at Children’s Mercy Park.
Tickets for the match, originally scheduled for April 14, are available online at SeatGeek.comor at the stadium box office on gameday and the first 500 fans in attendance will receive a Hat Trick Harry bobblehead as part of Harry’s annual birthday bash.
The Rangers continue a five-game homestand that opened on Wednesday with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Tulsa Roughnecks FC thanks to Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal’s stunning free kick, which landed at No. 2 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays, and Hadji Barry’s team-leading 11th goal of the season in the 79th minute.
Barry now has goals in three straight matches as he chases Kharlton Belmar’s single-season SPR record of 14 goals set in 2017. The 25-year-old Barry also scored the lone goal in the previous meeting between SPR and OKC as he drew and converted a late 86th-minute penalty kick on May 5 at Taft Stadium in the Rangers’ 1-0 road victory.
Mired in a nine-game losing streak in May, OKC’s fortunes have reversed since and the Energy enter on a four-game winning streak – scoring three or more goals in each of those victories -- that has lifted the side firmly into playoff contention with a four-point gap to close for the eighth and final playoff spot.
The mid-season turnaround can be largely credited to a roster overhaul, in which eight players -- including MLS veterans Marco Bustos, Adam Jahn and Atiba Harris -- have been added since the Rangers faced OKC, and the red-hot form of former Sporting KC striker Christian Volesky, who has a team-best 10 goals after scoring in each of the team’s last four matches.
Sunday will mark the 10th all-time meeting between the two sides, separated by 350 miles on I-35, with the series deadlocked at four wins apiece to go along with a solitary draw. The most memorable meeting came in last year’s Western Conference Championship, which ended when SPR goalkeeper Adrian Zendejas scored in the 11th-round of a record-setting penalty shootout to claim the Rangers second straight USL conference title.
Sunday’s match, the USL Week 25 finale, will be streamed live on ESPN+ and in-game updates will also be available via the USLsoccer.com Match Center.
Game 28 of 34
Date: Sunday, September 2, 2018
Kickoff: 4:00 p.m. CT
Location: Children’s Mercy Park (Kansas City, Kansas)
Swope Park Rangers: 11-9-7 (40 points, 7th place in Western Conference)
MLS Affiliate: Sporting Kansas City
OKC Energy FC: 10-12-5 (35 points, 10th place in Western Conference)
MLS Affiliate: FC Dallas
Game Notes: Click here
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Live Stream: ESPN+
Talent: Dave Borchardt (play-by-play) and Doug McLagan (analyst)
SOCIAL TAGS
Game-specific hashtag: #SPRvOKC
Swope Park Rangers
Twitter: @SwopeRangers
Instagram: @SwopeParkRangers
OKC Energy FC
Twitter: @EnergyFC
Instagram: @EnergyFC
