Level on points in the eighth and final playoff spot in the USL’s Western Conference with eight weekends remaining in the regular season, the Swope Park Rangers (9-9-7, 34 points) and San Antonio FC (9-8-7, 34 points) will meet at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at Toyota Field in a Texas-sized showdown.
The two sides each finished in the top four of the Western Conference a year ago and played to a 1-1 draw in this year’s only previous meeting back in April as Kharlton Belmar scored his fifth of nine goals on the campaign. SPR and San Antonio will now meet twice in the month ahead with Saturday’s road test followed by a rematch at Children’s Mercy Park on September 19 as SPR aims to improve the club’s 3-1-3 record in the all-time series.
The Rangers will be looking to snap a winless skid that reached eight games with a 3-3 draw against Reno 1868 FC last Sunday. Tyler Blackwood twice gave SPR the lead in the first half before providing the game-tying assist on Hadji Barry’s 93rd-minute equalizer to salvage a vital point in the postseason push.
Barry now holds a share of the team lead in both goals (nine) and assists (five), while Belmar is on the cusp of joining Danni Konig (FC Cincinnati) and Jorge Herrera (Charlotte Independence) as the only USL players with 10-goal seasons in 2017 and 2018.
San Antonio FC returns home after being swept on a three-game road trip, falling 3-2 at Seattle Sounders FC 2 and 2-1 at Portland Timbers 2 four days apart in the Pacific Northwest before Phoenix Rising FC put four goals past reigning USL Goalkeeper of the Year Diego Restrepo in San Antonio’s 4-0 loss on Wednesday in the USL Game of the Week.
The loss kicked off a stretch of four games in 13 days for San Antonio FC with Saturday’s match the lone home fixture during the stretch. Head coach Darren Powell’s squad, which features former Sporting KC players Mikey Lopez and Cyprian Hedrick, will welcome back Lopez and Pecka to the midfield after the duo served one-game suspensions on Wednesday, along with this week’s addition of Jamaican international Lance Laing on loan from FC Cincinnati.
Saturday’s match – one of 24 in USL Week 24 --will be streamed live on ESPN+ and in-game updates will also be available via the USLsoccer.com Match Center.
Game 26 of 34
Date: Saturday, August 25, 2018
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. CT
Location: Toyota Field (San Antonio, Texas)
Swope Park Rangers: 9-9-7 (34 points, 8th place in Western Conference)
MLS Affiliate: Sporting Kansas City
San Antonio FC: 9-8-7 (34 points, 8th place in Western Conference)
MLS Affiliate: New York City FC
Game Notes: Click here
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Live Stream: ESPN+
SOCIAL TAGS
Game-specific hashtag: #SAvSPR
Swope Park Rangers
Twitter: @SwopeRangers
Instagram: @SwopeParkRangers
San Antonio FC
Twitter: @SanAntonioFC
Instagram: @SanAntonioFC
