The Swope Park Rangers (4-4-0, 8th place) will look to rebound against San Antonio FC (9-0-2, 1st place) on Saturday night after falling to their first home defeat since September against the same side last Friday. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT from Toyota Field in San Antonio, Texas. The game will be streamed live on SportingKC.com and can be followed online via the USLsoccer.com MatchCenter.
The Swope Park Rangers and San Antonio FC squared off last Friday at Swope Soccer Village to open back-to-back games between the two clubs. The Rangers were riding a nine-game home winning streak, dating back to Sept. 3, 2016, but saw that run come to an end after Mark O’Ojong headed former SPR forward Kris Tyrpak’s cross into the back of the net midway through the second half to give the visitors their ninth victory in 11 games this season.
That result saw the Rangers drop to 4-4-0 at home, including a 4-1-0 mark at Swope Soccer Village. SPR has struggled on the road in 2017, dropping all three contests away from Kansas City to date. The Rangers have also been shutout in back-to-back games for the first time this season after scoring in each of their opening six games.
San Antonio FC is the last unbeaten team in the top leagues of American soccer and is tied for the best 11-game start in modern-era American soccer history with 29 points, matching the feat of the LA Galaxy in 1996. With their victory over the Rangers last week, San Antonio is now a perfect 5-0-0 away from home in 2017, having won just three road games all of last season.
The Rangers still leads the all-time series against San Antonio FC, going 2-1-1 in four contests since both sides were inaugurated into the USL in 2016. The Rangers played to a 1-1 draw in San Antonio’s inaugural home game on April 9, 2016, with Sporting KC forward Daniel Salloi netting for SPR. That result was followed by two 2-1 wins at Swope Soccer Village later in the season.
The Rangers are missing several key players as they travel to San Antonio this weekend with Mark Anthony Gonzalez, the team’s 2016 Offensive Player of the Year, and Sporting KC loanee Colton Storm sidelined due to injury. In addition, on-loan defender Erik Palmer-Brown is away captaining the United States at the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup and Kevin Oliveira is in Portugal for a training camp with the Cape Verde National Team ahead of an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
No team boasts a better defense than San Antonio FC at the moment. Despite losing starting goalkeeper Matt Cardone to injury in Week 5, San Antonio brings a 465-minute shutout streak into Saturday’s match with eight shutouts, a league high, and only four goals against, a league low, in 11 matches this season.
Game 9
Date: Saturday, June 3, 2017
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. CT
Location: Toyota Field (San Antonio, Texas)
Swope Park Rangers: 4-4-0 (12 pts), 8th in Western Conference.
MLS Affiliate: Sporting Kansas City
San Antonio FC: 9-0-2 (29 pts), 1st in Western Conference.
MLS Affiliate: New York City FC
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Live Stream: The game will be broadcast on SportingKC.com and YouTube.com/USL
SOCIAL TAGS
Game-specific hashtag: #SAvSPR
Swope Park Rangers
Twitter: @SwopeRangers
Instagram: @SwopeParkRangers
San Antonio FC
Twitter: @SanAntonioFC
Instagram: @SanAntonioFC
GAME NOTES
