The Swope Park Rangers (10-9-7, 8th place) defeated San Antonio FC (9-9-7, 11th place) Saturday night at Toyota Field, snapping an eight-game winless streak. Goals from Hadji Barry and Sporting KC loanee Amer Didic, along with Sporting KC loanee Eric Dick’s six saves, led the Rangers to victory.
In the sixth minute, Sporting KC Academy product Felipe Hernandez would take a corner kick and send a ball into the box. Sporting KC loanee Graham Smith would get a head on the cross and re-direct the ball across the goalmouth. Hadji Barry would be there first and gave the Rangers an early 1-0 lead with his 10th goal of the season.
San Antonio’s Cyprian Hedrick would have an opportunity in the 13th minute with a left-footed shot, but Dick would make the save.
Justin Bilyeu would send a cross from the opposite side of the pitch to Tyler Blackwood inside the box in the 20th minute, but the ball would be just out of Blackwood’s reach.
Hernandez would take another corner in the 25th minute and send a through ball to the center of the box. Didic would be there to head the ball in for his first goal of the season to increase the Rangers lead to 2-0.
In the 44th minute, Hernandez would take another free kick, but it would go just wide of the goal. Sporting KC loanee Kharlton Belmar would nearly net one in the 46th minute, but San Antonio goalkeeper Matt Cardone would make the save.
Darnell King of San Antonio would take a right-footed shot from the right side of the box and would curve it into the top-right corner of the goal in the 54th minute to narrow the gap to 2-1.
Dick would have a string of spectacular saves, one coming in the 62nd minute off a Lance Laing attempt. The second one came in the 68th minute when Ever Guzman took a ball from Omar Gordon and sent it toward the goal, but Dick would make the save in the center of the box. The third save was off a Connor Presley attempt in the 77th minute.
In the 81st minute, Barry would send a cross to Hernandez, but Hernandez’s shot would be blocked by a San Antonio defender. Barry would take an opportunity on goal in the 83rd minute off a Belmar pass, but Cardone would be there to make the diving save.
The Rangers would end the night with a 2-1 victory over San Antonio FC, snapping their eight-game winless streak. SPR will return home on Wednesday, August 29 to face Tulsa Roughnecks (2-12-10, 17th place) at 7:30 p.m. CT at Children’s Mercy Park.
Memorable Moments
Eric Dick made six saves on the night, bringing his season total to 29 saves in nine starts. Dick’s goal against average is 1.33 on the season.
Swope Park Rangers at San Antonio FC
August 25, 2018 – Toyota Field
Swope Park Rangers 2, San Antonio FC 1
Scoring Summary:
SPR – Hadji Barry 10 (unassisted) – 6’
SPR – Amer Didic 1 (Felipe Hernandez 3) – 25’
SA – Darnell King 2 (unassisted) – 54’
Misconduct Summary:
SA – Darnell King (Yellow Card) – 24’
SPR – Colton Storm (Yellow Card) – 65’
SPR – Bryam Rebellon (Yellow Card) – 79’
Swope Park Rangers:
Eric Dick; Colton Storm, Americ Didic ©, Graham Smith, Justin Bilyeu (Parker Maher 72’); Felipe Hernandez, Wan Kuzain, Rassambek Akhmatov (Bryam Rebellon 69’); Tyler Blackwood 78, Hadji Barry, Kharlton Belmar (Matheus Silva 88’).
