The Swope Park Rangers (5-3-4, 7th place) take to the road today for a ninth time through the first 13 weeks of the USL season, traveling west for a rematch with Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (5-7-2, 8th place) at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday at Weidner Field.
The Rangers were held scoreless for just the second time this season in a 2-0 loss at Saint Louis FC last weekend. After scoring eight goals in the team’s opening two games of the year, SPR’s attack has slowed down considerably with nine goals in the team’s past 10 matches.
Kharlton Belmar, who recorded a goal and an assist in his first Sporting KC start on Wednesday, continues to lead the USL with eight goals, while Hadji Barry ranks fourth in the USL with four assists. The Rangers are the top USL team in both passing (6,509 passes) and passing accuracy (84%), led by Graham Smith with a USL-best 820 passes this season.
The Switchbacks, coming off a 4-1 loss at Las Vegas, will be looking for their first win against the Rangers after suffering a third straight loss in the series in a 1-0 defeat on April 4 at Children’s Mercy Park. Tyler Blackwood scored the game’s lone goal on an assist from Gianluca Busio in the youngster’s professional debut at age 15.
The hosts are led by club captain Josh Suggs, a second team All-USL selection in 2016 and the team’s assist leader in 2017. He has two goals and two assists in 2018 after scoring in Las Vegas last week, while ranking third in the USL with 37 chances created and leading the USL with 158 crosses.
He also anchors a squad that has six clean sheets on the campaign, good for third most among USL teams. Colorado Springs has shut out their opponents in each of their last four USL home matches and is currently riding a six-game home unbeaten streak across all competitions.
Both clubs will be without players due to suspension on Saturday. Swope Park Rangers midfielder Bryam Rebellon received two cautions in last week’s outing and was sent off in the second half, while Switchbacks forward Marty Maybin was shown a straight red card moments after coming off the bench last weekend in Las Vegas.
Saturday will be the fifth all-time match between the Rangers and Switchbacks in a fixture that has produced no shortage of memorable moments. The Rangers rescued a 1-1 result with a 95th-minute equalizer in the initial clash in 2016 then prevailed in both meetings last year, rallying for a 2-1 win at home in June before scoring three goals in a three-minute span in the September rematch to clinch a playoff berth with a 3-1 win.
All the action in Saturday's showdown will be streamed live on ESPN+ and in-game updates will be available via the USLsoccer.com Match Center.
Game 13 of 34
Date: Saturday, June 9, 2018
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m. CT
Location: Weidner Field (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Swope Park Rangers: 5-3-4 (19 points, 7th place in Western Conference)
MLS Affiliate: Sporting Kansas City
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC: 5-7-2 (17 points, 8th place in Western Conference)
MLS Affiliate: N/A
Game Notes: Click here
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Live Stream: ESPN+
SOCIAL TAGS
Game-specific hashtag: #COSvSPR
Swope Park Rangers
Twitter: @SwopeRangers
Instagram: @SwopeParkRangers
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
Twitter: @SwitchbacksFC
Instagram: @SwitchbacksFC
