The Swope Park Rangers (9-5-4, 5th place) return to the road to take on Portland Timbers FC 2 (8-8-2, 7th place) at 9 p.m. CT on Saturday at Merlo Field on the campus of the University of Portland.
The Rangers face a quick turnaround after the team’s 3-1 loss to Sacramento Republic FC on Tuesday which snapped a 15-game home unbeaten streak. Hadji Barry, the only player to appear in all 18 matches for SPR this season, scored his seventh goal of the campaign in the mid-week match on an assist from fellow forward Kharlton Belmar.
Together, the dynamic duo have combined to score 16 of the team’s 28 goals in 2018 as Belmar leads all USL players with nine goals in 10 appearances. Belmar began his professional career with T2, scoring 15 goals over two seasons and being named USL Rookie of the Year in 2015.
T2 have also scored 28 goals to date, led by seven goals from 22-year-old rookie forward Foster Langsdorf. A Timbers FC Homegrown Player, Langsdorf starred at Stanford University where he won three straight NCAA national titles and four straight Pac-12 championships.
Both SPR and T2 boast rosters complemented by Academy players and first team loanees as each side has utilized 33 different players thus far in 2018. Seventeen-year-old midfielder Jahon Rad made his professional debut for SPR on Tuesday and became the eighth Sporting KC Academy product to do so this season.
The hosts will be looking to snap a four-game skid, including three straight home losses, on Saturday. Head coach Cameron Knowles’ roster features defenders Jimmy Mulligan, who appeared in 17 games for SPR in 2016 and who now leads all T2 players with 17 appearances this year, and Marco Farfan, who was named to the 2018 MLS Homegrown Game roster on Thursday alongside SPR contributors Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal and Jaylin Lindsey.
The Rangers have won three of the club’s four all-time matches against T2, including a pair of 1-0 victories last season, and will now face Timbers FC 2 twice in a span of four weeks. Saturday’s match at Merlo Field is the third away game in the series and will take place in a third different venue after SPR previously played T2 at Providence Park (2017) and Rocky Mountain High School (2016).
Saturday’s match will be streamed live on ESPN+ and in-game updates from the USL Week 18 finale will also be available via the USLsoccer.com Match Center.
Game 19 of 34
Date: Saturday, July 14, 2018
Kickoff: 9:00 p.m. CT
Location: Merlo Field (Portland, Ore.)
Swope Park Rangers: 9-5-4 (31 points, 5th place in Western Conference)
MLS Affiliate: Sporting Kansas City
Portland Timbers FC 2: 8-8-2 (26 points, 7th place in Western Conference)
MLS Affiliate: Portland Timbers
Game Notes: Click here
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Live Stream: ESPN+
SOCIAL TAGS
Game-specific hashtag: #PORvSPR
Swope Park Rangers
Twitter: @SwopeRangers
Instagram: @SwopeParkRangers
Portland Timbers 2
Twitter: @TimbersFC2
Instagram: @TimbersFC2
