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The Swope Park Rangers have announced their preseason roster ahead of playing the first preseason friendly this weekend. The Rangers will face Barton Community College at 2 PM Saturday at Swope Soccer Village.
The Rangers currently have 10 players under contract. The roster players are joined by 11 trialists and 13 Sporting KC Academy players as they prepare for the 2019 USL Championship season.
Seven players from the 2018 season return to Swope Park: Rassambek Akhmatov, Camilo Benitez, Justin Bilyeu, Wilson Harris, Felipe Hernandez, Will Little and Ethan Vanacore-Decker.
So far, they have added three midfielders to bolster the squad for this year. Ayyoub Allach and Jerome Ngom Mbekeli were announced previously. Alexsander a Brazilian mid on loan from Athletico Paranaense was just announced this week.
Swope Park also has 13 Academy players in camp. Mo Abualnadi, Jake Davis, Sean Karani, Tucker Lepley and Brooks Thompson join the Rangers after spending the first part of preseason with Sporting Kansas City in Arizona.
The 11 trialists are the usual mix of young professionals and college players looking for an opportunity with one main exception. Vitalis Takawira Jr, the son of former Wizards star, Digital Takawira.
Rangers 2019 Preseason Roster
Swope Park Rangers (10): Rassambek Akhmatov, Alexsander, Ayyoub Allach, Camilo Benitez, Justin Bilyeu, Wilson Harris, Felipe Hernandez, Will Little, Jerome Ngom Mbekeli, Ethan Vanacore-Decker
Sporting KC Academy (13): Mo Abualnadi, Josh Chong, Jake Davis, Dawson Gulley, Sean Karani, Tucker Lepley, Enzo Mauriz, Massimo McGuire, Kayden Pierre, Jahon Rad, Kaveh Rad, Brooks Thompson, Max Trejo
Trialists (11): Ricardo Angelo, Guy Stephane Bedi, Casey Beyers, Killian Colombie, Matias Fracchia, Macario Hing-Glover, Nathan Ingham, Christian Schneider, Nicolas Solabarrieta, Vitalis Takawira, Martieon Watson