The Swope Park Rangers (12-5-2, 3rd in the West) are set to take on cross-state rivals Saint Louis FC (6-8-4, 13th in the East) at Toyota Stadium – formerly known as World Wide Technology Soccer Park – in Fenton, Missouri on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. CT. The game will be available via live stream on SportingKC.com.
The Rangers saw their club-record 10-game unbeaten streak and seven-game win streak snapped last Saturday with a 4-1 defeat to Reno 1868 FC at Swope Soccer Village. Sporting KC Academy product Felipe Hernandez scored his first professional goal in the second half to cut the deficit to 2-1 but SPR ultimately succumbed to their first defeat since May.
SPR is still riding a five-game road win streak, having claimed victories over Tulsa Roughnecks FC (June 27), LA Galaxy II (June 30), Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 (July 12), Portland Timbers 2 (July 16) and Seattle Sounders FC 2 (July 20) in their last five road trips across the Western Conference. The Rangers scored seven goals and conceded just one in that five-game stretch, with goalkeeper Adrian Zendejas recording four straight road shutouts after seeing a deflected strike find the corner in the 2-1 win over Tulsa.
The Rangers are 1-1-2 all-time against Eastern Conference-based Saint Louis FC, having taken on their Missouri rivals four times when STL FC was in the Western Conference in 2016. Saint Louis FC claimed a 3-0 home victory in the first meeting last May before the Rangers hit back with a home win of their own in July. The two then played to a pair of 1-1 draws against each other last August – with Sporting KC striker Diego Rubio notably notching a goal at Toyota Stadium on Aug. 3.
In their first season under new head coach and Sporting Kansas City legend Preki, Saint Louis FC have struggled in their return to the Eastern Conference. The side is languishing in 13th place in the East with a 6-8-4 (22 pts.) record, but is just two points below the eighth and final playoff spot.
Saint Louis FC are 2-2-1 in their last five matches, including a 1-0 victory over the Richmond Kickers on the road in their last match on Saturday, July 29. Former Sporting KC midfielder and Swope Park Rangers loanee Emmanuel Appiah scored the only goal of the game early in the second half while making his debut for the club.
STL FC’s last home game ended in defeat, falling 4-1 to Louisville City FC on Saturday, July 22. Despite taking the lead moments before halftime through Daniel Jackson, a red card shown to Christian Volesky – who spent preseason with Sporting KC before being waived – changed the tied of the match. Louisville City FC took advantage of their numerical superiority with four unanswered goals from Oscar Jimenez, Paco Craig, Luke Spencer and Cameron Lancaster to head back to Kentucky with all three points.
Game 20
Date: Saturday, August 5, 2017
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. CT
Location: Toyota Stadium (Fenton, Mo.)
Swope Park Rangers: 12-5-2 (38 pts.), 3rd in Western Conference
MLS Affiliate: Sporting Kansas City
Saint Louis FC: 6-8-4 (22 pts.), 13th in Eastern Conference
MLS Affiliate: N/A
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Live Stream: The game will be broadcast on SportingKC.com and YouTube.com/USL
SOCIAL TAGS
Game-specific hashtag: #STLvSPR
Swope Park Rangers
Twitter: @SwopeRangers
Instagram: @SwopeParkRangers
Saint Louis FC
Twitter: @SaintLouisFC
Instagram: @SaintLouisFC
GAME NOTES
