The Swope Park Rangers will play its first home game of the 2018 USL season on Saturday, March 24 versus Seattle Sounders FC 2, the league announced today. The USL also announced that the Rangers will open the season on the road, facing Reno 1868 FC at Greater Nevada Field on Saturday, March 17.
The Rangers have won each of their home openers – which also served as season openers – in the club’s history, claiming a 2-1 win over Portland Timbers 2 in 2016 and a 3-1 victory over OKC Energy FC in 2017.
The Rangers have a perfect record against Sounders 2, going 4-0-0 all-time – securing two wins in the 2016 season and another pair of victories in 2017. Reno got the better of the Rangers in each of the two meetings in 2017.
The Rangers are under new stewardship in 2018, with former Sporting KC player Paulo Nagamura at the helm for his first season as a head coach, having served as an assistant coach for SPR in 2017. The Rangers won their second consecutive Western Conference crown in 2017, going 17-8-7 in the regular season before defeating OKC Energy FC in penalties in the Western Conference Final.
A number of Rangers players earned MLS contracts with Sporting KC throughout the season, with Kharlton Belmar, Amer Didic and James Musa all signing with the first-team after impressing with SPR. In addition, the Rangers provided ample playing time for players on loan from Sporting KC, including goalkeepers Adrian Zendejas and Andrew Dykstra, defender Colton Storm and forwards Diego Rubio and Daniel Salloi.
Reno produced a stellar inaugural season in the USL in 2017, finishing in third place in the Western Conference with a 17-7-8 record before falling in the postseason to OKC Energy FC in the Conference Quarterfinals.
Seattle, led by head coach Ezra Hendrickson, is entering its fourth season in the USL. S2 advanced to the USL Cup Playoffs in its inaugural season but has failed to reach the postseason the last two years, ending the 2017 season with a 9-19-4 record for a 12th-place finish in the Western Conference.
The full 2018 USL schedule will be unveiled at a later date, while the club’s permanent home venue for the 2018 season will also be revealed in the coming weeks.
