The Swope Park Rangers (3-10-6, 15 points) will welcome Charleston Battery (6-4-8, 26 points) to Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday for a USL Championship matchup. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. CT and tickets are available at SeatGeek.com or at the stadium box office starting at 5 p.m. CT.
ESPN+ is the streaming home Swope Park Rangers all season long, offering live coverage for every game. Fans can also follow @SwopeRangers on Twitter or visit the USL Championship MatchCenter for live updates throughout the match.
Second-year head coach Paulo Nagamura brings the squad home after a tough loss on the road to Ottawa Fury FC. After struggling to find their footing early in the season, SPR has battled back to a .500 home record.
SPR are 2-2-1 in their last five, and the “pipeline to the pros” initiative is coming out in full force. Against Ottawa, Tucker Lepley became the 15th Sporting KC Academy product to feature for the Rangers this season. In addition, new signing Tucker Stephenson became the first Kaw Valley FC player to ink a contract with the Swope Park Rangers. Stephenson is another Sporting KC Academy product and will join SPR for the remainder of the year.
The Rangers will face Charleston Battery for the second time this season on Saturday. Their first meeting on June 22 certainly did not disappoint. After a 75-minute weather delay, it took both sides some time to settle into the contest. Once they did, the competition began to heat up. The Battery snatched the lead in the 62nd minute off Romario Piggott’s goal from a Jared van Schaik cross. The visitors did not go quietly, however, as Ethan Vanacore-Decker nearly scored from distance and Jerome Ngom Mbekeli had a goal disallowed for a handball.
In the late stages of the game, the Rangers would get their equalizer off Felipe Hernandez’s right footed curler off the post. Drama intensified when Ian Svantesson and Adrian Zendejas both received red cards in the dying moments of the match. The referee ended the game immediately following the foul and both sides left with a point. Since that match, the Rangers have a 2-2-0 record while the Battery have gone 1-1-1.
Entering the weekend, Hernandez remains the top scorer for the Rangers. He has put the ball in the back of the net eight times. Vanacore-Decker is second on the squad with three goals to his name. Setting the trend in assists for SPR is Brazilian leftback Alexsander. The 20-year-old has accumulated five thus far and is looking to grow his total. Killian Colombie, also looking to add to his assist tally, has the second most with three.
Mike Anhaeuser, whose 15-year spell makes him one of the longest-tenured professional soccer coaches in the world, brings his squad to Kansas City with one more goal on the season than the Rangers. The Battery have struggled on the road, winning just two out of eight games.
Leading all scorers for Charleston is Zeiko Lewis with six goals. Lewis returned to his squad after starting for Bermuda in all three of their 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup matches. Ian Svantesson is second on the Battery with four goals.
In their last match against Ottawa, the Rangers fielded their youngest squad of the season with an average age of 20.2 years old. This came after the Rangers started their oldest lineup with an average age of 22, which produced a thrilling 4-3 home win over Hartford Athletic.
Match Information
USL Championship: Game 20 of 34
Date: Saturday, July 27, 2019
Kickoff: 7 p.m. CT
Location: Children’s Mercy Park (Kansas City, Kansas)
Live Stream: ESPN+
Swope Park Rangers: 3-10-6 (15 points, 16th place in Eastern Conference)
MLS Affiliate: Sporting Kansas City
Charleston Battery: 6-4-8 (26 points, 9th place in Eastern Conference)
MLS Affiliate: None
ESPN+ Live Stream Link: Click here
USL Championship MatchCenter: Click here
Match Notes: Click here
SOCIAL TAGS
Game-specific hashtag: #SPRvCHS
Swope Park Rangers
Twitter: @SwopeRangers
Instagram: @swopeparkrangers
Charleston Battery
Twitter: @Chas_Battery
Instagram: @charlestonbattery
