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USL Nashville SC

Nashville SC Ready for Rebound against Swope Park

May 10, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Nashville SC News Release


NASHVILLE -- It's a busy month for Nashville SC, and that will continue on Saturday as Nashville plays its third match in eight days against Swope Park Rangers at First Tennessee Park. Nashville SC will want full points on the night after dropping all three to Tampa Bay Rowdies in the midweek.

How to Follow

National TV: MyTV30

Local English Radio: ESPN 94.9 Game2

Local Spanish Radio: El Jefe 96.7

Digital: ESPN+

Twitter/Instagram/Facebook: @NashvilleSC

Last Time Out

Nashville SC dropped a tightly-contested 1-0 match against the Tampa Bay Rowdies at home on Wednesday night. After conceding on a set piece, Nashville couldn't ever find the equalizer and lost its second 1-0 match at home this season.

Scouting Swope Park

Swope Park Rangers, the MLS 2 team for Sporting Kansas City, have been around for three full seasons, and have already made two USL Cup Finals in 2016 and 2017. While they have yet to win the Cup Final, Swope Park has historically been a very good club. This year however, the Rangers have found the Eastern Conference to be a tough adjustment. With a record of 1-4-2 through seven matches, Swope Park is second to last in the conference.

The club is coming off one of its best performances of the season on Monday night against Louisville City. Swope Park went up 2-0 before Louisville stormed back to tie up the match. Not to be deterred from its first win of the season, Swope Park scored in stoppage time following a Louisville red card to earn three points against the two-time defending champions and get a measure of revenge following the 2017 USL Cup Final loss.

Storylines to Watch

Nashville SC/Sporting KC connection - Saturday will be the first time that Nashville SC and Swope Park Rangers have played, and there are a lot of connections between the clubs. NSC GM Mike Jacobs used to be on the technical staff of Sporting Kansas City that runs SPR. Because of that connection, many former Swope players have joined with Jacobs in Nashville. Lebo Moloto, Liam Doyle and Kharlton Belmar all are former Park Rangers.

Heavy Fixture Congestion - Nashville is in the middle of its busiest stretch of games in 2019. With a six-game month of May plus the U.S. Open Cup, NSC could theoretically play eight matches in May. Starting with Atlanta United 2 on May 4 and finishing with a possible Third Round U.S. Open Cup match on May 29, Nashville could have eight matches in 25 days, a staggering one match every 3.1 days.

Forwards Back on the Scoresheet - While Nashville's first six goals of the season were scored by forwards, only two of its last seven have fit the bill. While all goals count the same, the club's two MLS signings, Daniel Ríos and Cameron Lancaster have been relatively quiet recently. Due mainly to missed time through injury, Lancaster hasn't scored since the season opener. Ríos has five goals, but only one in his last five matches. Both could have plenty of opportunities against one of the weaker defenses in the league in Swope Park.

First Tennessee Fortress - The result wasn't what Nashville fans wanted on Wednesday night, but Nashville's defense was stout, allowing just two shots on goal and one goal scored. Total in 2019, Nashville has allowed just two goals in four home matches.

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