The Swope Park Rangers (18-8-8, 4th seed) will host regional rivals OKC Energy FC (14-11-7, 6th seed) at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at Children’s Mercy Park in the Western Conference Final of the USL Cup Playoffs.
Tickets for the match-up are available for $15 and can be purchased online at SeatGeek.com or at the venue box office prior to kickoff. Free parking will be available in Lot D beginning at 4:30 p.m. CT and stadium gates will open to ticket holders at 6:30 p.m. CT.
The Rangers are unbeaten in the team’s five all-time home playoff matches and enter Saturday’s high-stakes contest without a home loss in eight straight games, one result shy of a club record. SPR opened this year’s postseason run in thrilling fashion by prevailing in penalties against Phoenix Rising FC, followed by a comfortable 1-0 win over Sacramento Republic FC last week.
Two of the league’s top players have provided the goals for SPR this postseason with Amer Didic, a USL All-League First Team selection in 2016, scoring an extra time equalizer two weeks ago and Kharlton Belmar, USL Rookie of the Year in 2015, netting the game winner last Saturday.
Belmar now has a team and career high 15 goals this season, tied for fourth most in the USL with OKC Energy FC forward Jose Angulo. A former USL MVP, Angulo was acquired on loan from Saint Louis FC in July and is the reigning USL Player of the Month with seven goals and five assists in his last six matches.
The 29-year-old Colombian is the only player in the USL’s top 10 for both goals and assists in 2017, and he’s joined on the OKC front line by 6’4 Polish forward Wojciech Wojcik who has scored in three straight games for the Energy after returning from a fractured elbow.
Led by head coach and former Sporting KC goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen, OKC Energy FC is in their best form of the season coming to Kansas City. The visitors were the only team in the USL to win their final four games of the regular season, including a 4-1 home win over SPR on October 8, and have subsequently upset No. 3 seed Reno 1868 FC and No. 2 seed San Antonio FC in the playoffs.
No player has been more pivotal to the Energy’s postseason surge than 26-year-old goalkeeper C.J. Cochran, who replaced club captain Cody Laurendi (season-ending injury) to spark the club’s current six-game unbeaten run. He made five saves to shut out high-scoring Reno in the Western Conference Quarterfinal, then followed that performance with two saves in the penalty shootout to lift OKC over San Antonio in the Western Conference Semifinal last Saturday.
OKC Energy FC, the USL affiliate of Sporting KC prior to the launch of the Swope Park Rangers in 2016, are in the postseason for a third straight year and return to the Western Conference Final for the second time in three seasons. SPR won last year’s Western Conference Final in the club’s inaugural campaign and can now become the first expansion team in the modern era of American men's outdoor professional soccer to reach a league final in each of their first two seasons.
The Western Conference champion will advance to the 2017 USL Cup Final on Monday, November 13 to play either Louisville City FC (20-6-8, 1st seed) or New York Red Bulls II (15-14-5, 7th seed), who meet in the Eastern Conference Final at 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday. Both USL Conference Finals will be streamed live on YouTube and in the USLsoccer.com Match Center.
Western Conference Finals – 2017 USL Cup Playoffs
Date: Saturday, November 4, 2017
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. CT
Location: Children’s Mercy Park (Kansas City, Kansas)
Swope Park Rangers: 18-8-8, 4th in Western Conference
MLS Affiliate: Sporting Kansas City
OKC Energy FC: 14-11-7, 6th in Western Conference
MLS Affiliate: FC Dallas
More: SPR Notes | Soundbytes | USL Preview | OKC Preview | SPR Spotlight | OKC Spotlight
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Live Stream: The game will be broadcast on SportingKC.com
SOCIAL TAGS
Hashtags: #SPRvOKC, #SPRBelieve, #USLPlayoffs
Swope Park Rangers
Twitter: @SwopeRangers
Instagram: @SwopeParkRangers
