# 2018 Swope Park Rangers season

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

    As of October 9, 2018
| No. | Name | Position | Date of Birth (age) | Signed in | Previous Club |
| Goalkeepers |||||||
| 70 | Darrin MacLeod | GK | (1994-03-04) March 4, 1994 (age 30) | 2017 | TFC Academy |
| 79 | Christian Herrera | GK | (1997-04-20) April 20, 1997 (age 27) | 2018 | Real Monarchs |
| Defenders |||||||
| 72 | Justin Bilyeu | DF | (1994-02-03) February 3, 1994 (age 30) | 2018 | Rio Grande Valley FC Toros |
| 88 | Matt Lewis | DF | (1996-08-01) August 1, 1996 (age 28) | 2018 | Fordham University |
| Defenders/Midfielders |||||||
| 33 | Bryam Rebellón | DF/MF | (1992-01-22) January 22, 1992 (age 32) | 2018 | Jacksonville Armada |
| 44 | Parker Maher | DF/MF | (1993-07-12) July 12, 1993 (age 31) | 2017 | Saint Louis FC |
| 58 | Dakota Barnathan | DF/MF | (1994-11-09) November 9, 1994 (age 30) | 2017 | Portland Timbers U23s |
| 97 | Matheus Silva | DF/MF | (1996-12-08) December 8, 1996 (age 28) | 2018 | San Jose Earthquakes |
| Midfielders |||||||
| 40 | Thierry Catherine | MF | (1997-08-02) August 2, 1997 (age 27) | 2018 | Golden Lion FC |
| 48 | Kaveh Rad | MF | (2001-06-13) June 13, 2001 (age 23) | 2016 | North Carolina FC Academy |
| 49 | Will Little | MF | (1998-04-09) April 9, 1998 (age 26) | 2014 | FC Alliance |
| 66 | Jahon Rad | MF | (2001-06-13) June 13, 2001 (age 23) | 2016 | North Carolina FC Academy |
| 67 | Ryan Fessler | MF | (2001-03-08) March 8, 2001 (age 23) | 2016 | Sporting Academy |
| 71 | Chase Minter | MF | (1992-08-19) August 19, 1992 (age 32) | 2018 | Real Monarchs |
| 77 | Camilo Benitez | MF | (1999-08-16) August 16, 1999 (age 25) | 2014 | Sporting Academy |
| 80 | Sean Karani | MF | (2000-12-14) December 14, 2000 (age 24) | 2015 | Sporting Academy |
| 85 | Felipe Hernandez | MF | (1998-06-08) June 8, 1998 (age 26) | 2014 | Sporting Academy |
| 86 | Roman Knox | MF | (1999-11-25) November 25, 1999 (age 25) | 2011 | Sporting Academy |
| 93 | Rodrigo Saravia | MF | (1993-02-22) February 22, 1993 (age 31) | 2018 | FC Miami City |
| 95 | Rassambek Akhmatov | MF | (1996-05-31) May 31, 1996 (age 28) | 2018 | North Carolina FC Academy |
| 98 | Sebastian Cruz | MF | (2000-07-31) July 31, 2000 (age 24) | 2018 | Sporting Academy |
| 99 | Massimo McGuire | MF | (2000-08-30) August 30, 2000 (age 24) | 2012 | Sporting Academy |
| Forwards |||||||
| 36 | Tyler Blackwood | FW | (1991-07-24) July 24, 1991 (age 33) | 2018 | Sacramento Republic FC |
| 45 | Jose Barragan | FW | (2000-05-13) May 13, 2000 (age 24) | 2018 | C.F. Pachuca |
| 91 | Ethan Vanacore-Decker | FW | (1994-10-06) October 6, 1994 (age 30) | 2018 | North County United |
| 92 | Hadji Barry | FW | (1992-12-08) December 8, 1992 (age 32) | 2018 | Orlando City SC |
| 96 | Wilson Harris | FW | (1999-11-28) November 28, 1999 (age 25) | 2017 | Sporting Academy |

## Competitions
### USL Regular season
#### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 5 | Reno 1868 FC | 34 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 56 | 38 | +18 | 59 | Conference Playoffs |
| 6 | Portland Timbers 2 | 34 | 17 | 4 | 13 | 58 | 49 | +9 | 55 | Conference Playoffs |
| 7 | Swope Park Rangers | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 52 | 53 | −1 | 53 | Conference Playoffs |
| 8 | Saint Louis FC | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 44 | 38 | +6 | 53 | Conference Playoffs |
| 9 | San Antonio FC | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 45 | 48 | −3 | 50 | |

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss  Upcoming fixture

#### Postseason
## Player statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Position | Name | USL Season | USL Playoffs | Total |
| 1 | FW | Hadji Barry | 17 | 2 | 19 |
| 2 | FW | Kharlton Belmar | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 3 | FW | Tyler Blackwood | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| 4 | MF | Wan Kuzain | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | FW | Wilson Harris | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | MF | Felipe Hernandez | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | MF | Rodrigo Saravia | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | DF | Colton Storm | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | DF | Amer Didic | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | FW | Diego Rubio | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | FW | Ethan Vanacore-Decker | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | MF | Matheus Silva | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | DF | Seth Sinovic | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Source: