The Swope Park Rangers opened preseason ahead of the 2019 USL Championship season by cruising to a 5-0 victory over Barton Community College at Swope Soccer Village on Saturday afternoon.
Ethan Vanacore-Decker gave the Rangers the lead midway through the first half when he ran onto a ball over the top, rounded the Barton goalkeeper and tapped into an empty net to make the score 1-0, which is how it would stay until halftime.
Wholesale changes were made at the break, as an entirely new lineup sprinted out to double the lead in the 51st minute. Vitalis Takawira – the son of Sporting KC’s first-ever goalscorer in 1996, Digital Takawira – was brought down in the area and fellow trialist Guy Stephane Bedi stepped up to bury the penalty into the bottom right corner.
In the 70th minute, trialist Nicolas Solabarrieta made it 3-0 when he curled a brilliant strike into the top corner from the edge of the area. Five minutes later, Bedi grabbed his second of the day by heading home from close range following a save from the Barton goalkeeper to make it 4-0.
Trialist Christian Schneider would complete the scoring in the 78th minute, latching onto Bedi’s through ball into the area and firing high into the near post to make the final score 5-0.
