The Swope Park Rangers (16-7-6, 3rd place) is back on the road on Saturday night when the side takes on Rio Grande Valley FC (9-13-7, 11th place) at H-E-B Park in Edinburg, Texas at 7:30 p.m. CT.
The Rangers, who are riding a three-game winning streak, currently occupy third place in the USL Western Conference and would host their USL Cup Playoff opener if the season ended today. SPR clinched their spot in the postseason with a 3-1 victory over Colorado Springs on Sept. 23 before rising to third with a 3-0 victory over LA Galaxy II on Wednesday night.
In that convincing 3-0 victory over Galaxy II in midweek, Kharlton Belmar tallied his team-leading 13th goal of the season in the first half before Lebo Moloto and Amer Didic added further goals in the second period as SPR recorded their 11th shutout of the 2017 campaign – tied for second in the league.
Belmar, who signed with Sporting KC earlier this month, now sits in a tie for fifth in the USL scoring charts, while fellow Sporting KC loanee Adrian Zendejas is tied for fifth with eight shutouts in the 2017 season.
Rio Grande Valley leads the all-time series between the two sides 3-2-0, including a 1-1-0 mark in the 2017 season. The Toros beat the Rangers 1-0 at H-E-B Park on May 13, 2017 behind a stunning Todd Wharton volley in the 18th minute before the Rangers pushed for an equalizing goal for the remainder of the game to no avail.
Nikola Popovic’s side avenged that defeat on July 8, routing Rio Grande Valley 4-0 at Swope Soccer Village as part of the club’s seven-game winning streak from June 21 through late July 20. Lebo Moloto and Mark Anthony Gonzalez each tallied before the halftime interval, before Sporting KC loanees Colton Storm and Cameron Iwasa completed the thrashing in the second half.
Rio Grande Valley are fighting for their Playoff lives as the side currently sits six points out of the eighth and final postseason spot with just three games remaining. The Toros have hit a decent run of form, winning their last two games against second-place Reno 1868 FC and fourth-place San Antonio FC by 1-0 scorelines.
In their one-goal shutout victory over San Antonio at Toyota Field last time out, Jose Escalante gave his side the lead in the 17th minute before RGV were aided by the ejection of San Antonio’s Ben Newnam, who was shown a straight red card for violent conduct in the 20th minute. The Toros were able to hang on to their lead for the remainder of the game and take all three points in the South Texas derby.
Game 30
Date: Saturday, September 30, 2017
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. CT
Location: H-E-B Park (Edinburg, Texas)
Swope Park Rangers: 16-7-6 (54 points), 3rd in Western Conference
MLS Affiliate: Sporting Kansas City
Rio Grande Valley FC: 9-13-7 (34 points), 11th in Western Conference
MLS Affiliate: Houston Dynamo
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Live Stream: The game will be broadcast on SportingKC.com and YouTube.com/USL
SOCIAL TAGS
Game-specific hashtag: #RGVvSPR
Swope Park Rangers
Twitter: @SwopeRangers
Instagram: @SwopeParkRangers
Rio Grande Valley FC
Twitter: @RGVFC
Instagram: @RGVFC
GAME NOTES
