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SPR 1- 1 San Antonio: Belmar scores again

The Rangers control the possession but one mistake cost them the full three points

By Thad Bell
Belmar has made the most of his time with Swope Park
Thad Bell

The Swope Park Rangers wrapped up their third game in a week Saturday night. The Rangers came away from San Antonio with a point after drawing 1-1 on the back of Kharlton Belmar’s 5th goal of the season. The Rangers (3-1-1, 10 points) are tied for first place in the Western Conference.

San Antonio FC (1-1-2, 5 points) started strong but the Rangers eventually started to dominate possession, much like Sporting Kansas City, their parent team.

With the Rangers on the third game of a Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday stretch that saw them play in Las Vegas and Kansas City before traveling to Sa Antonio, they switched up a large part of the lineup.

Using a combination of loaned from Sporting KC and Rangers signed players, Swope Park had 61% of possession but the home team was able to outshoot the visitors 10-8 and 5-1 in shots on goal.

Belmar’s goal came in the 29th minute when Amer Didic started the ball forward while under pressure from San Antonio. A quick sliding touch from Felipe Hernandez out to Colton Storm who cut inside and timed his pass with Belmar’s run to play him in on goal. Belmar cut inside and shot with three defenders closing him down and just past the 2017 USL keeper of the year Diego Restrepo.

San Antonio FC did not take long to strike back. Matheus Silva did not play quickly enough when Eric Dick passed the ball to him giving Pecka a chance to pick the ball off his feet. A quick give-and-go with Ever Guzman allowed Pecka to break in on goal. Dick had little chance to stop Pecka’s shot from the edge of the 18-yard box.

The one mistake cost the Rangers an opportunity to bring the full three points home.

With the game level, both teams gave a good effort for the rest of the match. SPR still dominating possession with San Antonio getting more shots on goal.

Notes:

  • Belmar’s fifth goal in four games played leads the league
  • Gianluca Busio, Sporting KC’s 15-year-old homegrown started his second straight match. While he did not factor in the scoring and was not as effective as his first start, he did play a solid match.
  • Keeping with the Sporting KC style of possession and building from the back, center backs Graham Smith (75 passes with 93.3% accuracy) and Amer Didic (71 passes and 91.5% accuracy) were the most prolific passers for the Rangers.
  • SPR will face OKC Energy FC (1-4-0, 3 points) on Saturday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Shawnee Mission South District Stadium.

Scoring Summary:

SPR – Kharlton Belmar 5 (Colton Storm 2) – 29’

SA – Pecka 1 (Ever Guzman 1) – 33’

Misconduct Summary:

SPR – Amer Didic (Yellow Card) – 32’

SA – Darnell King (Yellow Card) – 32’

SPR – Hadji Barry (Yellow Card) – 32’

SPR – Colton Storm (Yellow Card) – 34’

SPR – Felipe Hernandez (Yellow Card) – 85’

SPR – Matheus Silva (Yellow Card) – 88’

Swope Park Rangers: Eric Dick; Colton Storm; Americ Didic ©; Graham Smith; Parker Maher; Matheus Silva; Felipe Hernandez; Gianluca Busio (Rodrigo Saravia 68’); Chase Minter (Tyler Blackwood 78’); Hadji Barry (Camilo Benitez 90’+3’); Kharlton Belmar.

Highlights:

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