The Swope Park Rangers (13-10-7, 6th place) fell 4-3 on Saturday against Saint Louis FC (12-8-10, 7th place) at Children’s Mercy Park, snapping a four-game winning streak. Hadji Barry opened the scoring in the 22nd minute and now has goals in six straight games, matching the USL record, and the Rangers struck twice in the final 10 minutes only to see the rally fall short.
Sporting KC loanee Eric Dick would make a save in the 18th minute off a Corey Hertzog attempt in the bottom right corner. In the 22nd minute, Sprorting KC loanee Kharlton Belmar would send a great cross to Barry in the center of the box and Barry would put it away. This would be Barry’s 14th goal of the season, equaling the SPR record for most goals in a single regular season.
In the 28th minute, Sporting KC loanee Khiry Shelton would take a long shot from outside the box, but it would miss just to the right of the post. In the 35th minute, Shelton would send a ball to Belmar, but Belmar’s attempt would be blocked by a Saint Louis defender.
Saint Louis’ Michael Cox would even the score at 1-1 in the 37th minute. Sporting KC Academy product Felipe Hernandez would attempt a shot in the 43rd minute, but it would sail high and wide of the goal. Belmar would send another ball to Barry in the third minute of first half stoppage time, but Barry’s attempt on goal would be saved by Saint Louis goalkeeper Tomas Gomez.
One minute later, Saint Louis would ping a ball off the left goal post and Tony Walls would head in the rebound to give the visitors a 2-1 lead at halftime. Saint Louis would extend their lead to 3-1 in the 59th minute when Joey Calistri would send a ball past Dick in the bottom right corner.
Belmar would have another shot blocked by a Saint Louis defender in the 81st minute. Moments later, Kansas City native Kyle Greig would send a left-footed shot into the bottom left corner of the goal, increasing Saint Louis' lead to 4-1. Tyler Blackwood would score in the 84th minute off a through ball from Chase Minter after being subbed on in the 77th minute.
Sporting KC loanee Graham Smith would almost net one in the 89th minute, but it would sail just high of the goal. Ethan Vanacore-Decker would score his first professional goal in the fourth minute of second half stoppage time, closing the gap to one but the final score would be 4-3 when the final whistle blew.
SPR remains home for their next match on Wednesday, September 19 at 7:30 p.m. CT when they face San Antonio FC (12-10-7, 8th place) at Children’s Mercy Park.
Memorable Moment
Hadji Barry has scored in his last six starts and tonight's goal brings his goals scored this season to 14. A six-match scoring streak is a USL record first set by former SPR player Dane Kelly, who managed a six-match scoring streak last season with Reno 1868 FC. Fourteen goals scored in a single season is a new career record for the forward. The 25-year-old is now tied for the SPR’s single-season goals scored record with Kharlton Belmar at 14 goals.
Ethan Vanacore-Decker scored his first professional goal in the 94th minute. The 23-year-old forward has made three appearances for the Rangers so far after signing on August 10.
Swope Park Rangers vs Saint Louis FC
September 15, 2018 – Children’s Mercy Park
Swope Park Rangers 3, Saint Louis 4
Scoring Summary:
SPR – Hadji Barry 14 (Kharlton Belmar 5) – 22’
STL – Michael Cox 3 (Corey Hertzog 4) – 37’
STL – Tony Walls 2 (unassisted) – 45’+5'
STL – Joey Calistri 5 (unassisted) – 59’
STL – Kyle Greig 13 (Tyler Polak 1) – 82’
SPR – Tyler Blackwood 5 (Chase Minter 2) – 84’
SPR – Ethan Vanacore-Decker 1 (unassisted) – 90’+4’
Misconduct Summary:
STL – Michael Cox (Yellow Card) – 41’
SPR – Bryam Rebellon (Yellow Card) – 45’ +3’
SPR – Kharlton Belmar (Yellow Card) – 48’
STL – Joey Calistri (Yellow Card) – 80’
STL – Austin Martz (Yellow Card) – 88’
STL – Kyle Culbertson (Yellow Card) – 90’+3’
Swope Park Rangers:
Eric Dick; Amer Didic, Graham Smith; Parker Maher, Bryam Rebellon; Felipe Hernandez (Chase Minter 59), Wan Kuzain; Rassambek Akhmatov (Tyler Blackwood 77); Hadji Barry, Kharlton Belmar (Ethan Vanacore-Decker 83), Khiry Shelton
