The Swope Park Rangers (3-16-6, 15 points) and Charleston Battery (8-7-10, 34 points) will lock horns Wednesday night at world-class Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas, taking the field in a rearranged fixture that was originally slated for July 27.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT and tickets for the Eastern Conference clash are available at SeatGeek.com or at the stadium box office beginning at 5 p.m. CT on matchday. Tickets purchased for the July 27 match will be honored on Wednesday.
Supporters can catch Wednesday's contest streaming live on ESPN Plus, while the USL Championship Match Center and @SwopeRangers on Twitter will provide additional live updates. Fans will also have the opportunity to win an exclusive prize prize package courtesy of Smile Generation—including an electric toothbrush plus an SPR scarf, beanie, bobblehead and more—by using the hashtag #RangersSmile on Twitter.
Under the guidance second-year head coach and former Sporting Kansas City midfielder Paulo Nagamura, the Rangers suffered a 4-2 defeat at Memphis 901 FC on Saturday night at AutoZone Park in downtown Memphis. The visitors struck first on a successful penalty kick from Sporting KC Academy product Wilson Harris before Memphis scored twice in the space of two minutes to take a 2-1 halftime lead. Portuguese forward Ze Pedro pulled the Rangers level in the 50th minute, but Memphis received a second-half brace from USL Championship veteran Brandon Allen to secure the home win and condemn SPR to a seventh straight loss.
Led by 15th-year head coach Michael Anhaeuser, the longest-tenured manager of any major professional soccer league in the world, Charleston are a single point below playoff positioning in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference. The club currently occupies 11th place but has a game in hand on 10th-place Saint Louis FC and ninth-place Birmingham Legion FC, both of which Charleston would leap if they beat the Rangers on Wednesday.
The Rangers have received inspirational performances throughout the season from 21-year-old midfielder Felipe Hernandez, who landed an MLS contract with Sporting Kansas City late last month and earned his MLS debut on Saturday at the Portland Timbers. The likes of Harris and Ze Pedro stepped up in Hernandez's absence on Saturday, finding the back of the net to continue their strong runs of recent form.
The first meeting between the sides resulted in a 1-1 stalemate on June 22 at MUSC Health Stadium. In a game that was delayed 75 minutes due to inclement weather, Hernandez and Charleston's Romario Piggott traded second-half goals before a mass altercation between both teams marred second-half stoppage time and resulted in the ejection of SPR keeper Adrian Zendejas and Battery forward Ian Svantesson.
Match Information
USL Championship: Game 26 of 34
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019
Kickoff: 7 p.m. CT
Location: Children's Mercy Park (Kansas City, Kansas)
Swope Park Rangers: 3-16-6 (15 points, 18th place in Eastern Conference)
MLS Affiliate: Sporting Kansas City
Charleston Battery: 8-7-10 (34 points, 11th place in Eastern Conference)
MLS Affiliate: None
ESPN+ Live Stream Link: Click here
USL Championship MatchCenter:Click here
Match Notes: Click here
SOCIAL TAGS
Game-specific hashtag: #SPRvCHS
Swope Park Rangers
Twitter: @SwopeRangers
Instagram: @SwopeParkRangers
Charleston Battery
Twitter: @Chas_Battery
Instagram: @charlestonbattery
