The Swope Park Rangers are back on the road this weekend, with the side traveling to take on cross-state rivals Saint Louis FC for the first time at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 7 at World Wide Technology Soccer Park in Fenton, Mo. The game will be live streamed on SportingKC.com and shown at No Other Pub in conjunction with Sporting Kansas City's watch party.
The Rangers will be looking to win their first game since April 2, having gone 0-2-1 in their last three games after opening the season with back-to-back wins. Most recently, SPR suffered a 2-1 defeat to Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 at Swope Soccer Village on Wednesday, April 27. Kris Tyrpak opened the scoring for the Rangers in the 15th minute but Whitecaps FC 2 hit back through Kyle Greig and Ben McKendry to claim all three points at Children’s Mercy Victory Field.
Saint Louis FC sit a point above the Rangers with eight points through a 2-2-2 record, having won their most recent matchup on the road against Sacramento Republic FC. Mike Ambersley scored the only goal in that game with a 59th-minute strike to give Saint Louis all three points.
The 2016 USL season marks the first time Missouri has seen two professional outdoor soccer teams play in the same league since 1970, when the Kansas City Spurs last faced the St. Louis Stars before folding in the old North American Soccer League. While Sporting KC defeated Saint Louis FC 1-0 in the U.S. Open Cup in 2015, Saturday’s game is the first matchup between outdoor Kansas City and St. Louis soccer teams in the same league since Aug. 23, 1970 when the Stars claimed a 2-1 win over the Spurs.
The Rangers and Saint Louis FC will face each other three more times in 2016, with the next matchup taking place on July 2 at Swope Soccer Village. SPR will return to WWT Soccer Park on Aug. 3 before closing out the season series in Kansas City on Aug. 21.
Game 6
Date: Saturday, May 7, 2016
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. CT
Location: World Wide Technology Soccer Park (Fenton, Mo.)
Swope Park Rangers: 2-2-1, 7 pts. T-8th in Western Conference.
Saint Louis FC: 2-2-2, 8 pts. T-5th in Western Conference.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Live Stream: The game will be broadcast on SportingKC.com and YouTube.com/USLPRO
Talent: Bob Ramsey (play-by-play), Bill McDermott (analyst)
SOCIAL TAGS
Game-specific hashtag: #STLvSPR
Swope Park Rangers
Twitter: @SwopeRangers
Instagram: @swopeparkrangers
Saint Louis FC
Twitter: @SaintLouisFC
Instagram: @saintlouisfc
GAME NOTES
