The Swope Park Rangers (9-5-4, 31 points) suffered their first home loss of the season to Sacramento Republic FC (9-5-6, 33 points) at Children’s Mercy Park on Tuesday night. The Rangers lone goal came from Hadji Barry off a Kharlton Belmar cross in the 70th minute.
In the 14th minute, a shot from Sacramento Republic FC player Jaime Villarreal was blocked causing it to skim over the crossbar.
Tyler Blackwood would have a great cross inside the box, but Sacramento would clear the ball away before a SPR player could get a foot on it. In the 17th minute, Sporting KC loanee Graham Smith would get a head on a ball following a corner kick from Sporting KC loanee Brad Evans, but the ball would clip the left post and not find the net.
Goaltender and Sporting KC loanee Eric Dick would make a great save in the 22nd minute off a left-footed shot from Cameron Iwasa. SPR all-time leading goal scorer and Sporting KC loanee Kharlton Belmar would take a ball from Barry and send it to the right of the post in the 24th minute.
Sporting KC Academy product Felipe Hernandez would take a left-footed shot from the center of the box, but would miss to the left in the 27th minute. In the 35th minute, Belmar would take a ball from Blackwood, but the ball would be saved by Sacramento goalie Josh Cohen.
Iwasa would take a right-footed shot from the right side of the box and score for Sacramento in the 45th minute. Villarreal would pick up the assist and Sacramento would take a 1-0 lead into half.
Belmar would have a quick breakaway in the 46th minute, but his attempt would be saved. In the 48th minute, Blackwood would take a cross from Hernandez, but would chip it over the crossbar. Dick would have a great diving save in the 52nd minute.
Iwasa would score Sacramento’s second goal of the night in the 54th minute off a beautiful header. Emrah Klimenta would earn the assist from a cross.
In the 61st minute, Barry would curve a ball from outside the box toward the goal, but it would inch just high of the crossbar. Barry would then net his seventh goal of the season in the 70th minute from a Belmar assist, his third, as SPR would close the gap to 2-1.
Sacramento’s Christian Eissele would seal their victory with a left-footed shot from the center of the box in the 88th minute. Iwasa would nab the assist. Sacramento would defeat the Rangers for the first time in five meetings and would hand the Rangers their first loss at Children's Mercy Park.
The Rangers hit the road for their third game of five in 18 days when they fly back to the West Coast to play Portland Timbers 2 (8-8-2, 26 points) on Saturday, July 14 at 9:00 p.m. CT. SPR will then return home on Wednesday, July 18 at 7:30 p.m. CT when they welcome home former captain Christian Duke and Orange County SC (9-6-3, 30 points).
Notable Moment
Jahon Rad made his professional debut in the 55th minute of tonight’s match. He ended the night with a passing accuracy of 95.5% (21/22).
The 17-year-old joined the Sporting KC Academy ahead of the 2016-17 campaign. This season, he made 23 appearances for the U-17s with 12 goals.
Swope Park Rangers vs Sacramento Republic FC
July 10, 2018 – Children’s Mercy Park
Swope Park Rangers 1, Sacramento Republic FC 3
Scoring Summary:
SAC – Cameron Iwasa 8 (Jaime Villarreal 2) – 45’
SAC – Cameron Iwasa 9 (Emrah Klimenta 1) – 54’
SPR – Hadji Barry 7 (Kharlton Belmar 3) – 70’
SAC – Christian Eissele 3 (Cameron Iwasa 4) 88’
Misconduct Summary:
SAC – Christian Eissele (Yellow Card) – 67’
SAC – Emrah Klimenta (Yellow Card) – 73’
Swope Park Rangers: Eric Dick; Colton Storm, Brad Evans (Matt Lewis 46’), Graham Smith, Parker Maher; Roman Knox (Jahon Rad 55’), Chase Minter (Sebastian Cruz 86’), Felipe Hernandez; Tyler Blackwood, Hadji Barry, Kharlton Belmar
