The Swope Park Rangers have announced the club’s 2019 preseason roster, consisting of 10 players under USL Championship contract, 13 members of the Sporting Kansas City Academy and 11 trialists.
Led by second-year head coach Paulo Nagamura, the Rangers will play their first of six preseason friendlies on Saturday at Swope Soccer Village, facing Barton Community College at 2 p.m. CT. Admission is free and open to the public.
SPR have signed three new midfielders this offseason—Alexsander, Ayyoub Allach and Jerome Ngom Mbekeli—who join returnees Rassambek Akhmatov, Camilo Benitez, Justin Bilyeu, Wilson Harris, Felipe Hernandez, Will Little and Ethan Vanacore-Decker.
The preseason squad will also feature 13 Academy teenagers, including five who trained with Sporting KC during the MLS club’s training stint last month in Scottsdale, Arizona. Mo Abualnadi, Jake Davis, Sean Karani, Tucker Lepley and Brooks Thompson all competed under the eye of Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes at Phoenix Rising FC Soccer Complex and will now form part of SPR’s preseason camp.
Rangers 2019 Preseason Roster
Swope Park Rangers (10): Rassambek Akhmatov, Alexsander, Ayyoub Allach, Camilo Benitez, Justin Bilyeu, Wilson Harris, Felipe Hernandez, Will Little, Jerome Ngom Mbekeli, Ethan Vanacore-Decker
Sporting KC Academy (13): Mo Abualnadi, Josh Chong, Jake Davis, Dawson Gulley, Sean Karani, Tucker Lepley, Enzo Mauriz, Massimo McGuire, Kayden Pierre, Jahon Rad, Kaveh Rad, Brooks Thompson, Max Trejo
Trialists (11): Ricardo Angelo, Guy Stephane Bedi, Casey Beyers, Killian Colombie, Matias Fracchia, Macario Hing-Glover, Nathan Ingham, Christian Schneider, Nicolas Solabarrieta, Vitalis Takawira, Martieon Watson
The Rangers, who transition from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference for the 2019 USL Championship campaign, will open the 2019 ledger at New York Red Bulls II on March 9 before welcoming Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC in their home opener at world-class Children’s Mercy Park.
Season tickets for 2019 SPR home matches are now available by calling 888-4KC-GOAL. Single-game tickets to all 17 USL home matches will go on sale at SeatGeek.com in the near term.
Rangers 2019 Preseason Schedule (home matches in bold)
<strong>DATE</strong> |
<strong>OPPONENT</strong> |
<strong>TIME (CT)</strong> |
<strong>LOCATION</strong> |
<strong>Saturday, Feb. 2</strong> |
<strong>Barton Community College</strong> |
<strong>2pm</strong> |
<strong>Swope Soccer Village (Kansas City, MO)</strong> |
<s><strong>Saturday, Feb. 9</strong></s> |
<s><strong>Iowa Western Community College</strong></s> |
<s><strong>2pm</strong></s> |
<strong>**Cancelled due to winter weather**</strong> |
Wednesday, Feb. 13 |
North Texas SC |
11am |
Toyota Soccer Center (Frisco, TX) |
Saturday, Feb. 16 |
Tulsa Roughnecks FC |
1pm |
Titan Sports and Performance Center (Tulsa, OK) |
<s><strong>Sunday, Feb. 24</strong></s> |
<s><strong>Creighton University</strong></s> |
<s><strong>2pm</strong></s> |
<strong>**Cancelled due to winter weather**</strong> |
<strong>Saturday, March 2</strong> |
<strong>Texas United</strong> |
<strong>2pm</strong> |
<strong>Swope Soccer Village (Kansas City, MO)</strong> |
