The Swope Park Rangers suffered a 2-0 defeat OKC Energy FC on Tuesday night at Swope Soccer Village. Late goals from two FC Dallas loanees, Coy Craft and Timo Pitter, were enough to condemn the Rangers to their first defeat since June 18.
The Rangers (6-8-3, 21 pts.) were the first to threaten when Dane Kelly put the ball in the net but was whistled for offside in just the second minute. A minute later, Kelly spun away from his man and hit a powerful shot that flashed just over the crossbar.
In the 10th minute, the Rangers went within an inch of taking the lead when Kris Tyrpak slid a ball through for Alex Molano, whose shot across goal came off the inside of the post and into the arms of OKC goalkeeper Cody Laurendi.
The Energy (6-2-7, 24 pts.) came to life after that, with Sebastian Dalgaard blazing over from close range in the 24th minute. Three minutes later, Sporting KC loanee Ever Alvarado got his head on Molano’s free kick delivery, but could only direct his attempt straight at Laurendi.
Late in the first half, Jon Kempin was forced into a strong save to deny Wojciech Wojcik from close range with his feet, before the striker fired over from the top of the box in first-half stoppage time.
The Rangers came out strong in the second period, with Kelly seeing a header saved before Molano went close with two efforts in the space of a minute. Molano was growing into the game and was played clean through in the 59th minute, only for Laurendi to parry his effort away. The OKC goalkeeper reacted quickly to tip Kelly’s follow-up effort over the bar.
From the resulting corner, Pasher floated a cross to the back post that almost looped into the top corner before Laurendi’s intervention. Seconds later, Pasher sent in a teasing ball that Tyrpak reached ahead of Laurendi, but his header drifted just wide of the post.
SPR leading scorer Mark Anthony Gonzalez entered the game in place of Kelly in the 69th minute and made an immediate impact, turning his man and firing narrowly over just two minutes after coming on. Six minutes later, Ualefi found Jimmy Mulligan streaking into space down the right, but the defender’s effort didn’t dip in time and went over the bar.
OKC took the lead in the 84th minute when two substitutes linked up to devastating effect. Timo Pitter found space down the left and slid a low ball across the SPR area to Coy Craft who tucked the ball home with aplomb for his third goal of the season, making the score 1-0.
Moments after Jordan Rideout blazed a golden opportunity over the bar for OKC, the visitors doubled their lead when another substitute, Luis Martinez, found Pitter on the left side of the area and the FC Dallas loanee buried his effort into the corner to make the final score 2-0.
Next Match
- The Swope Park Rangers are back in action next Wednesday when they travel to take on Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC at Switchbacks Stadium on July 20. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. CT and a live stream will be available on SportingKC.com.
Swope Park Rangers vs. OKC Energy FC
July 12, 2016 – Swope Soccer Village (Kansas City, Mo.)
Swope Park Rangers 0, OKC Energy FC 2
Scoring Summary:
OKC – Coy Craft 3 (Timo Pitter 1) 84’
OKC – Timo Pitter 1 (Luis Martinez 1) 89’
Misconduct Summary:
SPR – Christian Duke (Yellow Card) 5’
Swope Park Rangers: Jon Kempin; Jimmy Mulligan (Oumar Ballo 87’), Kevin Ellis, Amer Didic, Ever Alvarado; Ualefi (Tomas Granitto 80’), Christian Duke ©, Alex Molano (Nansel Selbol 72’); Kris Tyrpak, Dane Kelly (Mark Anthony Gonzalez 69’), Tyler Pasher (Johnny Grant 82’).
Substitutes Not Used: Zac Lubin, Tommy Meyer.
STATS: Shots 14, Shots on Goal 7, Corners 7, Fouls 7
OKC Energy FC: Cody Laurendi ©; Michael Harris (Kyle Hyland 57’), Coady Andrews, Cyprian Hedrick, Kalen Ryden; Daniel Gonzalez (Luis Martinez 82’), Michael Byskov, Jose Cuevas (Coy Craft 67’), Sebastian Dalgaard (Timo Pitter 74’); Wojciech Wojcik (Jordan Rideout 74’), Danni Konig.
Substitutes Not Used: CJ Cochran, Peter Toth.
STATS: Shots 10, Shots on Goal 4, Corners 1, Fouls 10
Referee: Rosendo Mendoza
Assistant Referees: Shane Kennard and Devin Blazek
Fourth Official: Kevin Diemer
Attendance: 1,223
Weather: Cloudy and 85 degrees
