The surging Swope Park Rangers (10-4-2, 3rd place) look to continue their winning ways on Sunday when the club plays its second of three straight matches in the Pacific Northwest, facing Portland Timbers 2 (1-14-2, 15th place) at 4 p.m. CT inside Providence Park. The Western Conference clash will stream live on SportingKC.com with additional live updates and stats on the USLSoccer.com MatchCenter.
The Rangers set a pair of club records with a 1-0 road win over Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Wednesday, claiming their fifth consecutive regular season victory and extending their USL unbeaten run to eight matches since the start of June. The game-winner arrived in the 65th minute when second-half substitute Kharlton Belmar headed home off Kevin Oliveira’s free kick to record his fifth goal of the campaign, tying Mark Anthony Gonzalez for the 2017 team lead. Oliveira moved atop the club charts with his fifth assist, while goalkeeper Adrian Zendejas posted his third straight clean sheet.
Since suffering a 1-0 defeat to San Antonio FC on May 26, the Rangers have gone 6-0-2 to climb from eighth place to third in the Western Conference, three points behind San Antonio and 11 behind leaders Real Monarchs SLC. SPR’s upswing includes three straight away victories, having beat Tulsa Roughnecks FC on June 27 and LA Galaxy II on June 30 before knocking off Whitecaps FC 2 on Wednesday.
The last six SPR goals — scored over their previous three games — have come from six different players, including Sporting Kansas City loanees Cameron Iwasa and Colton Storm. On the defensive end, center backs Amer Didic and Liam Doyle have anchored a back line that hasn’t conceded a goal in 291 minutes dating back to June 27.
Sunday’s opponent sits in the Western Conference basement with just five points to show from 17 matches. Timbers 2 were on their way to a rare win on Sunday as Jeremy Ebobisse and Max Ornstil struck in the first half against LA Galaxy II, but four unanswered goals from Los Dos put Portland behind the eight-ball. Victor Arboleda grabbed one back in the 82nd minute, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Portland’s winless skid from hitting 11 matches and dropping the club’s home record to 0-8-1 in 2017.
Playmaking midfielder Villyan Bijev leads Portland with six USL goals, three more than any other teammate, in addition to topping the club charts with 17 chances created. Arboleda, on loan from the Timbers’ senior team, has added three goals while Ebobisse — Portland’s first-round selection in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft — opened his professional scoring account in last Sunday’s loss.
SPR and Portland will be meeting for the second time this season, more than three months after their first encounter in Kansas City on March 29. Belmar’s 15th-minute strike separated the sides in both teams’ second match of the year.
The Rangers own a 2-1-0 all-time record in the series, including a 2-1 victory in the club’s inaugural match played at Children’s Mercy Park on March 26, 2016. Oliveira scored the team’s first-ever goal on that historic evening before Gonzalez assisted the game-winner to Daniel Salloi in second-half stoppage time. The sides met again in June 2016 at Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian, Idaho, which counted as a home game for Timbers 2. Goals from Arboleda and Neco Brett put Portland in the driver’s seat before Gonzalez tallied his first professional goal as the contest ended 2-1.
Game 17
Date: Sunday, July 16, 2017
Kickoff: 4 p.m. CT
Location: Providence Park (Portland, Oregon)
Swope Park Rangers: 10-4-2 (32 pts), 3rd in Western Conference
MLS Affiliate: Sporting Kansas City
Portland Timbers 2: 1-14-2 (5 pts), 15th in Western Conference
MLS Affiliate: Portland Timbers
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Live Stream: The match will be broadcast on SportingKC.com and YouTube.com/USL
SOCIAL TAGS
Match-specific hashtag: #PORvSPR
Swope Park Rangers
Twitter: @SwopeRangers
Instagram: @SwopeParkRangers
Portland Timbers 2
Twitter: @timbersfc2
Instagram: @timbersfc2
