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Swope Park Rangers took home their first loss in franchise history Saturday night as they fell 1-0 on the road to Oklahoma City Energy FC.
Defender Kalen Ryden had the only goal of the match, his first of the season.
The match started off with both teams feeling each other out and neither side pushing too far forward. Energy FC had the best early chance when former Sporting KC man Michael Thomas slid a cross right in front of the face of goal but there was no one there to tap it in.
A few minutes later, Swope Park had their best chance of the match to that point as Nansel Selbol took the ball down the flank and was able to get in the box. His ensuing play, where he either missed a shot wide or crossed it, bounced harmlessly out of play to keep the match scoreless.
The second half saw more opportunities for both sides. In the 55th minute, Jose Cuevas sent in a free kick that bounced between Rangers' keeper Jon Kempin and the post and the combined effort of both of those forces of resistance put the ball out of play and kept the match level.
The Rangers almost went on the board later in the half when Kevin Oliveria sent a ball across the face of goal that met Kris Tyrpak and a tap-in would have sufficed but he caught the ball wrongly and shanked the shot, wasting an opportunity for the Rangers to take the lead.
In the 80th minute, Energy FC finally broke the deadlock. Ryden brought the ball into the box and, while Kempin and Swope Park defenders were closing in, shot the ball to the far post for the score.
This left little time for the Rangers to attempt to equalize, but they did have their opportunities. The best of these came 86th minute, when sub Daniel Salloi received the ball in between the goal and the six-yard box. He attempted to volley the ball but he sent it straight into the ground and the turf at Taft Stadium gave it a little extra oompf as the ball bounced over the goal and out of play.
After five minutes of stoppage, Swope Park was unable to find an equalizer and ended up with their first loss of the season. They return to action Wednesday night when they come home to play Vancouver Whitecaps II at Swope Soccer Village at 7:00 p.m.