The Swope Park Rangers (13-10-7, 6th place) will host San Antonio FC (12-10-7, 9th place) at 7:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday at Children’s Mercy Park with both sides in pursuit of playoff positions with four weeks remaining in the USL season.
Tickets for the midweek matchup are available online at SeatGeek.com or at the stadium box office prior to kick off, and the first 250 fans in attendance to make a $5 or greater donation to The Victory Project will receive an exclusive SPR beanie.
The Rangers currently share sixth place in the Western Conference with Saint Louis FC after falling 4-3 on Saturday against the I-70 rivals. Reno 1868 FC, with two games in hand, sit one point back in the eighth and final playoff position with a two-point cushion over ninth-place San Antonio.
Both SPR and San Antonio FC finished in the top four of the Western Conference a year ago and now control their postseason destinies in the final month of the 2018 campaign. Each squad is coming off nearly identical runs of form after having winning streaks snapped on Saturday despite early leads.
Hadji Barry opened the scoring for SPR on Saturday in the 22nd minute before St. Louis struck for four unanswered goals to halt the Rangers four-game winning streak. Barry now has goals in six straight games, matching the USL record, and his 14 goals in 2018 are tied for the most in a single regular season by a Rangers player.
In Tulsa, Cesar Elizondo returned to the San Antonio lineup on Saturday after a 10-match absence due to injury and gave his side a 1-0 lead on the road in the 18th minute only to see the last-place Roughnecks respond with two goals of their own to snap San Antonio’s three-game winning streak.
Four days removed from those results, the Rangers and San Antonio FC will meet on Wednesday for the ninth time in three seasons with SPR holding a 4-1-3 record in the series following a 1-1 home draw on April 7 and a 2-1 away win on August 25. Since the last meeting, San Antonio has acquired FC Dallas defender Moises Hernandez on loan amidst a stretch of 10 straight games without a clean sheet.
While the Rangers conclude a five-game homestand on Wednesday, San Antonio is in the middle of a three-game road trip through the Midwest with stops in Tulsa (Sept. 15), Kansas City (Sept. 19) and St. Louis (Sept. 22). Head coach Darren Powell’s roster features former Sporting KC players Cyprian Hedrick and Mikey Lopez, as well as reigning USL Goalkeeper of the Year Diego Restrepo who has missed four straight matches due to injury.
Wednesday’s showdown, the Rangers' penultimate home match and San Antonio's penultimate away match, will be streamed live on ESPN+ and in-game updates will also be available via the USLsoccer.com Match Center.
Game 31 of 34
Date: Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. CT
Location: Children’s Mercy Park (Kansas City, Kan.)
Swope Park Rangers: 13-10-7 (46 points, 6th place in Western Conference)
MLS Affiliate: Sporting Kansas City
San Antonio FC: 12-10-7 (43 points, 9th place in Western Conference)
MLS Affiliate: New York City FC
Game Notes: Click here
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Live Stream: ESPN+
Talent: Carter Augustine (play-by-play) and Sam Kovzan (analyst)
SOCIAL TAGS
Game-specific hashtag: #SPRvSA
Swope Park Rangers
Twitter: @SwopeRangers
Instagram: @SwopeParkRangers
San Antonio FC
Twitter: @SanAntonioFC
Instagram: @SanAntonioFC
