The Swope Park Rangers (13-6-6, 4th place) head to the West Coast this weekend to take on Orange County SC (7-8-9, 10th place) at 9 p.m. CT on Saturday night at Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine, California. The game will stream live on SportingKC.com and via the USLsoccer.com MatchCenter.
The Rangers are coming off their first victory in six games, having earned a 2-0 win over regional rivals OKC Energy FC at Swope Soccer Village last weekend. Midfielder Lebo Moloto gave his side the lead from the spot in the first half after Sporting KC loanee Tyler Pasher was brought down by OKC goalkeeper Cody Laurendi. Moloto added his second early in the second half, turning home Felipe Hernandez’s low cross at the near post.
The win was the Rangers’ first since a 2-0 victory over Seattle Sounders FC 2 on July 20, with the side going 0-2-4 from late July through the end of August. SPR now has a 13-6-6 record (45 pts.) and sits in fourth place in the USL Western Conference. The side is five points ahead of fifth-place Tulsa Roughnecks FC, with the top four teams in each conference hosting the USL Cup Playoff openers in October.
Orange County SC has struggled as of late and are winless in their last nine games since a 1-0 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 on July 29. Since then, Orange County has gone 0-4-5, seeing the side drop to 10th place in the Western Conference and outside of the postseason picture as things stand.
The two sides met in mid-August – during Orange County’s winless skid – and both teams settled for a point after a hard-fought match at Swope Soccer Village. Top-scorer Kharlton Belmar gave SPR the lead in just the fourth minute of the match before Orange County equalized through Zach Kobayashi early in the second period as the match finished 1-1.
Orange County SC is the USL affiliate of incoming Major League Soccer expansion side Los Angeles FC, who will debut in MLS next season. Three players on Orange County’s roster are currently on loan from LAFC in midfielders Carlos Alvarez and Monday Etim, while newly minted forward Rodrigo Pacheco could make his home debut on Saturday after playing his first game for the club in the 0-0 road draw against Phoenix Rising FC on Wednesday.
Game 26
Date: Saturday, September 9, 2017
Kickoff: 9 p.m. CT
Location: Championship Soccer Stadium (Irvine, Calif.)
Swope Park Rangers: 13-6-6 (45 pts.), 4th in Western Conference
MLS Affiliate: Sporting Kansas City
Orange County SC: 7-8-9 (30 pts.), 10th in Western Conference
MLS Affiliate: Los Angeles FC
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Live Stream: The game will be broadcast on SportingKC.com and YouTube.com/USL
SOCIAL TAGS
Game-specific hashtag: #OCvSPR
Swope Park Rangers
Twitter: @SwopeRangers
Instagram: @SwopeParkRangers
Orange County SC
Twitter: @OrangeCountySC
Instagram: @OrangeCountySoccer
GAME NOTES
