The Swope Park Rangers are preparing to do battle with Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 in the Western Conference Final this Saturday, with a spot in USL Cup on the line. The two sides squared off twice in the regular season, with Whitecaps FC 2 claiming both contests by narrow margins – winning 2-1 at Swope Soccer Village on April 27 and 3-2 at UBC Thunderbird Stadium on June 12.
While it was Vancouver who came back from a goal down to emerge victorious in the first meeting between the sides, as goals from Kyle Greig and Ben McKendry cancelled out Kris Tyrpak’s early strike, the Rangers almost staged an incredible comeback of their own in the most recent meeting.
SPR entered that brisk Sunday afternoon on the back of their most impressive performance of the season – a 4-0 victory over eventual second seed Rio Grande Valley FC. With short turnaround and travel north of the border to contend with, Marc Dos Santos made four changes from the comprehensive win over RGV. Key players Jimmy Mulligan, Kevin Oliveira and Kris Tyrpak all started on the bench, while Dane Kelly made his return to the 18 after missing nine games with a hamstring injury.
Vancouver came flying out of the gates, with first-team loanee Marco Bustos pouncing twice in the opening 23 minutes to give his side a 2-0 lead at halftime. Recognizing his side needed a boost, Dos Santos made four changes to start the second half, with Mulligan, Oliveira, Tyrpak and Kelly all entering the game.
The second half couldn’t have been more different from the first, with the Rangers jumping out on the front foot and controlling the play for large spells. Mark Anthony Gonzalez almost pulled a goal back when his header crashed against the inside of the post in the 68th minute, before Vancouver punched home their third goal on the counter through 15-year-old winger Alphonso Davies with 10 minutes remaining.
Despite trailing by three goals with limited time remaining, the Rangers refused to lie down and reduced the deficit when Gonzalez struck a brilliant shot into the top corner from distance in the 85th minute. SPR pushed forward with added belief and pulled within one goal when Tyrpak finished calmly into the corner three minutes later.
The Rangers were within an inch of producing the most unlikely of comebacks, but Oliveira’s free kick – the last play of the game – was tipped onto the inside of the post and out by Marco Carducci.
That result dropped SPR to 4-6-2 and left the side languishing in 11th place in the West, while Vancouver remained at the summit of the Western Conference standings with a 7-2-4 record.
Since that game, the two sides’ fortunes have reversed. The Rangers went 10-4-4 to close out the regular season, surging to a fourth place finish in the West. In contrast, Vancouver went 5-7-5 in the remainder of their campaign and dropped from first place to sixth.
