The Swope Park Rangers (13-9-7, 6th place) will renew the club’s rivalry with Saint Louis FC (11-8-10, 8th place) at 4 p.m. CT on Saturday at Children’s Mercy Park with the highest stakes yet for a match-up in the all-time series. Tickets for the clash are available online at SeatGeek.comor at the stadium box office prior to kick off.
Separated by 250 miles on I-70 and three points in the USL Western Conference standings, SPR and Saint Louis FC will meet in the thick of the playoff race with five games remaining on each club’s schedule during the final month of the regular season.
The Rangers will play three of those five matches in the next eight days, a pivotal stretch that includes back-to-back home games against the two teams immediately behind SPR in the table:
- Saturday, Sept. 15: vs Saint Louis FC (43 points, 8th place)
- Wednesday, Sept. 19: vs San Antonio FC (43 points, 7th place)
- Saturday, Sept. 22: at Tulsa Roughnecks FC (17 points, 17th place)
SPR enters Saturday’s showdown with wins in four straight matches – the longest active winning streak in the Western Conference – thanks to back-to-back shutouts from Adrian Zendejas and the red-hot form of Hadji Barry, who has goals in five straight games. Barry now has 13 goals on the campaign, one shy of the club’s regular season record for goals in a single year set by Kharlton Belmar last year, and Barry could match Dane Kelly’s USL mark of goals in six straight games on Saturday.
Despite the Rangers winning ways as of late, SPR has beaten Saint Louis FC only once in seven tries (1-2-4) dating back to 2016 and is winless in the team’s last five encounters with the cross-state foes, including a 2-0 loss in the most recent meeting back in June.
Amidst the best season in the team’s four-year history, Saint Louis FC is led by Kansas City native Kyle Greig with a team-high 12 goals and the side is chasing their first-ever playoff berth in 2018 under first-year head coach Anthony Pulis. The visitors are coming off a 1-1 draw at conference leaders Real Monarchs on Wednesday, which pushed Saint Louis FC into the eighth and final playoff position with a one-point lead over Reno 1868 FC.
Saturday’s match, the first of eight games on the USL slate for the day, will be streamed live on ESPN+ and in-game updates will also be available via the USLsoccer.com Match Center.
Game 30 of 34
Date: Saturday, September 15, 2018
Kickoff: 4:00 p.m. CT
Location: Children’s Mercy Park (Kansas City, Kan.)
Swope Park Rangers: 13-9-7(46 points, 6th place in Western Conference)
MLS Affiliate: Sporting Kansas City
Saint Louis FC: 11-8-10 (43 points, 8th place in Western Conference)
MLS Affiliate: N/A
Game Notes: Click here
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Live Stream: ESPN+
Talent: Dave Borchardt (play-by-play) and Doug McLagan (analyst)
SOCIAL TAGS
Game-specific hashtag: #SPRvSTL
Swope Park Rangers
Twitter: @SwopeRangers
Instagram: @SwopeParkRangers
Saint Louis FC
Twitter: @SaintLouisFC
Instagram: @SaintLouisFC
