The Rangers managed to secure a draw away in Shreveport in a very tough match last week against Red River FC, where the equalizer came from a penalty kick scored by Ethan Blake. In the rematch this past Saturday, however, the Rangers stomped the Raiders 5-1 at home, marking their third win of the season.

Unlike previous games that started a bit sloppy for the Rangers, this one was completely different right from the start. The Rangers wanted to use their home turf to instill fear in their opponents’ minds. They applied intense pressure on the Raiders’ backline and forced errors that they nearly capitalized on several times. One often-overlooked aspect of the Rangers’ game is their strength in creating chances from corners, free kicks, and throw-ins. With a very tall group of players, they tend to win most of their aerial duels—and they used that strength to find the opening goal of the game, when the tallest man on the field, center-back Alejandro Padilla, headed the ball into the net from a corner to put the Rangers on the board. Left-back Scott Gray has consistently been brilliant at whipping in crosses this season, and put it in a dangerous spot for the opening goal. 

The fans hadn’t even finished celebrating before Drew Harding found the net again with a stunning shot from an outside cross by Keevo McConnell. The Rangers are a well-coached team when it comes to crosses; many of their goals come from those plays, and you can see Coach Doyle’s influence there. The dream first half ended with Amos scoring his fifth goal of the season in a bizarre play where the goalkeeper mishandled the ball, accidentally hitting Amos’s head, which deflected the ball into the goal.

It was a complete first-half domination by the Rangers, marking a stark contrast to their away game against the Raiders and highlighting their growth as a team that becomes a true force at home.

The second half wasn’t much different, but you could see that the Rangers wanted to control the match with a three-goal lead—and if they were able to find more goals, even better. That’s exactly what happened with what was probably one of the most beautiful goals of the season so far, as Man of the Match Scott Gray stepped up and scored a perfect free kick that hit the upper right post and went in.

Last but not least, the fifth goal came from first-time goal scorer Miguel Arilla, who, with a great left-footed strike, found the left side of the net and turned it into a party at War Memorial Stadium.

This victory puts the Rangers at the top of their division with ten points and marks their second home win of the season by a margin of 4-plus goals. The Rangers are making their home field their fortress, and that was highlighted by Coach Doyle in the post-game interview: “The guys kinda feed off the atmosphere. Once they get a goal, they get rolling… Home is a must-win—you have your fans, your support, it’s your turf field, and you train on it every day, so you have to protect it.”

Even Man of the Match Scott Gray spoke about how the team transforms when playing at home: “It’s the fans for me,” he said. “They make us play—they’re loud, they get us the energy to go forward, they’re the ones paying the tickets to come watch us, so we have to prove it to them and give them the best game we can.” He even sent a message to all the Rangers fans: “A massive thank you. In every home game, we hope to see you there, and if you can make it to the away games, y’all are more than welcome to come.”

The Rangers will be back on the road when they travel to Louisiana to face the Louisiana Krewe FC on June 7th, 2025.

That doesn’t mean there won’t be soccer in Little Rock this upcoming weekend, though! Your Little Rock Rangers Women’s Team will kick off their home UPSL season against Side FC on June 7th at 6 pm at Joe T. Robinson. They’ll also play at War Memorial Stadium for the first time on Sunday, June 8th at 6 pm against the Ozark Storm FC. Come out and enjoy a weekend of great soccer from your Little Rock Women’s Team!