The Swope Park Rangers (14-10-8, 7th place) can secure a berth in the 2018 USL Cup Playoffs with a victory on Wednesday when they take on 2014 USL champions Sacramento Republic FC (16-7-8, 3rd place) at 9:30 p.m. CT at Papa Murphy’s Park in northern California
The club’s final road trip of the regular season comes with SPR sitting in seventh place in the Western Conference, one point above Saint Louis FC in the eighth and final playoff spot, with two games remaining. The Rangers, who claimed back-to-back Western Conference championships in each of the team’s first two seasons, are now on the cusp of a return to the postseason in head coach Paulo Nagamura’s first campaign and would join Sacramento as the only two Western Conference teams to reach the playoffs in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Swope Park Rangers forward Hadji Barry has led the playoff push, and re-written the USL record book in the process, with goals in each of the club’s last eight games. The 25-year-old has contributed career highs this year with 16 goals – fifth most in the USL and the most in a single season by an SPR player – and five assists in his inaugural season for the Rangers.
Fellow forward Tyler Blackwood has also helped spark the SPR attack as of late with two goals and two assists in the last three games to bring his season totals to six goals and three assists. The 27-year-old will now face his former side as he returns to Sacramento after tallying six goals and three assists for the Republic last year.
Barry and Blackwood will be up against a Sacramento squad that has conceded the fewest goals in the Western Conference this season thanks in large part to goalkeeper Josh Cohen, who leads the conference with 11 clean sheets. On the opposite end of the field, Cameron Iwasa leads the team in scoring with his 15th goal of the year coming on Saturday in Sacramento’s 1-0 victory over Portland Timbers 2 to extend their unbeaten run to five games.
Iwasa, who made 22 appearances for the Rangers last season on loan from Sporting KC, played a pivotal part in the previous meeting between SPR and Sacramento this season when he provided two goals and an assist in a 3-1 win for the Republic on July 10. The victory was Sacramento’s first in five matches in the all-time series, which includes last year’s showdown in the Western Conference Semifinals.
The mid-week match-up, the last of six USL fixtures on Wednesday, will be streamed live on ESPN+ and in-game updates will also be available via the USLsoccer.com Match Center.
Game 33 of 34
Date: Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Kickoff: 9:30 p.m. CT
Location: Papa Murphy’s Park (Sacramento, Calif.)
Swope Park Rangers: 14-10-8 (50 points, 7th place in Western Conference)
MLS Affiliate: Sporting Kansas City
Sacramento Republic FC: 16-7-8 (56 points, 3rd place in Western Conference)
MLS Affiliate: N/A
Game Notes: Click here
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Live Stream: ESPN+
SOCIAL TAGS
Game-specific hashtag: #SACvSPR
Swope Park Rangers
Twitter: @SwopeRangers
Instagram: @SwopeParkRangers
Sacramento Republic FC
Twitter: @SacRepublicFC
Instagram: @SacRepublicFC
