After collecting four wins from a five-game homestand, the Swope Park Rangers (14-10-7, 6th place) will return to the road with a trip to Tulsa to take on the rival Roughnecks (3-15-11, 17th place) at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday.
With three games remaining in the regular season, the Rangers remain in pursuit of a postseason berth to defend the team’s back-to-back conference championships. SPR currently sits sixth in the table – with the top eight teams in the West advancing to the USL Cup Playoffs -- thanks to a strong playoff push in which the Rangers have matched League leaders FC Cincinnati for the most points (15) and victories (5) in the USL over the past month.
The club’s recent run has coincided with the unprecedented form of Rangers forward Hadji Barry. The 25-year-old, a first-round pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft, signed with SPR in January from Orlando City and has now scored in each of the team’s last seven matches to set a new USL record.
Barry’s 15 goals on the year rank fifth most in the USL in the race for the Golden Boot and he’s now one shy of moving into the USL’s top 10 chart for most goals in a single regular season campaign in league history:
- Matt Fondy 22 (2015, Louisville City)
- Danni Konig 21 (2015, Oklahoma City)
- Kevin Molino 20 (2014, Orlando City)
- Cameron Lancaster 19 (2018, Louisville City)
- Rob Vincent 18 (2015, Pittsburgh)
- Dane Kelly 18 (2017, Reno)
- Daniel Rios 17 (2018, North Carolina)
- Thomas Enevoldsen 17 (2018, Orange County)
- Four players tied 16
Barry’s latest goal came in a key 2-0 win over playoff hopefuls San Antonio FC on Wednesday at Children’s Mercy Park. Fellow forward Tyler Blackwood contributed on both goals, providing the game-winning assist to Barry before recording a goal of his own with 15 minutes remaining.
Eric Dick, on loan from Sporting Kansas City, secured his fourth shutout of the season as the Rangers have now kept clean sheets in three of the past four fixtures. Conversely, the Roughnecks have conceded four goals in three of their past four outings and have two total shutouts in 2018.
Tulsa, who opened a three-game homestand last weekend with a win of their own against San Antonio FC before falling 4-1 to Sacramento Republic FC on Wednesday, will be looking for their first point against the Rangers to climb out of the Western Conference cellar. SPR is a perfect 7-0-0 all-time in the series, including a 2-1 come-from-behind win on Aug. 29 in the only other match-up this season.
The Roughnecks feature a roster highlighted by 17-year-old FC Dallas Homegrown Player Jesus Ferreira, who has six goals in 14 appearances, and 26-year-old striker Joaquin Rivas, who leads the team with 10 goals and recently received his first call up to the El Salvador Men’s National Team.
The Roughnecks appointed Michael Nsien as head coach in June and the Tulsa native has led his squad to a 3-2-3 record at home since replacing David Vaudreuil. The versatile ONEOK Field, site of Saturday’s match, hosted a concert for Grammy Award-winning artist Jack White on Monday and is considered one of the premier venues in Double-A baseball as host to this month’s Texas League Championship Series and next year’s Texas League All-Star Game.
Saturday’s showdown will be streamed live on ESPN+ and in-game updates will also be available via the USLsoccer.com Match Center.
Game 32 of 34
Date: Saturday, September 22, 2018
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m. CT
Location: ONEOK Field (Tulsa, Okla.)
Swope Park Rangers: 14-10-7 (49 points, 6th place in Western Conference)
MLS Affiliate: Sporting Kansas City
Tulsa Roughnecks FC: 3-15-11 (20 points, 17th place in Western Conference)
MLS Affiliate: Chicago Fire
Game Notes: Click here
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Live Stream: ESPN+
SOCIAL TAGS
Game-specific hashtag: #TULvSPR
Swope Park Rangers
Twitter: @SwopeRangers
Instagram: @SwopeParkRangers
Tulsa Roughnecks FC
Twitter: @RoughnecksFC
Instagram: @RoughnecksFC
