The 2018 Swope Park Rangers season was the club's third year of play and their third season in the Western Conference of the United Soccer League, the second tier of the United States Soccer Pyramid. The Rangers moved from the Swope Soccer village to Shawnee Mission District Stadium in Overland Park, Kansas for the team's season opener, before playing the rest of the 2018 schedule at Children's Mercy Park.
Previous season The 2017 Swope Park Rangers season finished the year with a record of 17-7-8 and 4th in the Western Conference qualifying for the 2017 USL Playoffs.
In the first round, the Rangers defeated #5 seed Phoenix Rising on penalty kicks 4-2 after a draw in regulation (1-1). In the conference semi-finals, the Rangers would keep rolling with another win facing the #8 seed Sacramento Republic FC 1-0. The Rangers opponent in the conference Finals was the OKC Energy FC; they tied at the end of regulation and would win in penalty kicks 7-6. For the second year in a row, Swope Park Rangers made it to the USL Championship game; and for the second year in a row would lose the Cup, but to Louisville City FC 1-0.
Roster
No.NameNationPosition Date of birth (age) Signed in Previous Club Goalkeepers 70 Darrin MacLeod GK 2017 TFC Academy 79 Christian Herrera GK 2018 Real Monarchs Defenders 72 Justin Bilyeu DF 2018 Rio Grande Valley FC Toros 88 Matt Lewis() DF 2018 Fordham University Defenders/Midfielders 33 Bryam Rebellón DF/MF 2018 Jacksonville Armada 44 Parker Maher DF/MF 2017 Saint Louis FC 58 Dakota Barnathan DF/MF 2017 Portland Timbers U23s 97 Matheus Silva DF/MF 2018 San Jose Earthquakes Midfielders 40 Thierry Catherine MF 2018 Golden Lion FC 48 Kaveh Rad() MF 2016 North Carolina FC Academy 49 Will Little MF 2014 FC Alliance 66 Jahon Rad() MF 2016 North Carolina FC Academy 67 Ryan Fessler() MF 2016 Sporting Academy 71 Chase Minter MF 2018 Real Monarchs 77 Camilo Benitez MF 2014 Sporting Academy 80 Sean Karani() MF 2015 Sporting Academy 85 Felipe Hernandez MF 2014 Sporting Academy 86 Roman Knox() MF 2011 Sporting Academy 93 Rodrigo Saravia MF 2018 FC Miami City 95 Rassambek Akhmatov MF 2018 North Carolina FC Academy 98 Sebastian Cruz() MF 2018 Sporting Academy 99 Massimo McGuire() MF 2012 Sporting Academy Forwards 36 Tyler Blackwood FW 2018 Sacramento Republic FC 45 Jose Barragan FW 2018 C.F. Pachuca 91 Ethan Vanacore-Decker FW 2018 North County United 92 Hadji Barry FW 2018 Orlando City SC 96 Wilson Harris() FW 2017 Sporting Academy
Competitions Preseason
USL Regular season
Standings
Matches
Postseason
Player statistics Top scorers RankPositionNameUSL SeasonUSL PlayoffsTotal1 FW Hadji Barry 17 2 192 FW Kharlton Belmar 100 103 FW Tyler Blackwood 7 1 84 MF Wan Kuzain 3 1 45 FW Wilson Harris 3 0 3 MF Felipe Hernandez 3 0 37 MF Rodrigo Saravia 2 0 2 DF Colton Storm 2 0 29 DF Amer Didic 1 0 1 FW Diego Rubio 1 0 1 FW Ethan Vanacore-Decker 1 0 1 MF Matheus Silva 1 0 1 DF Seth Sinovic 1 0 1 Source:
References