Colorado Springs, CO (September 30, 2020) – The Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC played out to a scoreless draw against El Paso Locomotive FC on Wednesday night in the last ever game at Weidner Field.
In a tight first half, the Switchbacks had the best two opportunities starting with Aidan Daniels finding space on top of the penalty box and curling his effort just over the crossbar at the right post. The Switchbacks earned a corner kick in the 41st minute and played the ball short to Luke Ferreira on top of the penalty box but his shot was just wide of the left post.
Early in the second half, one of the best chances of the game fell to the foot of Luke Ferreira when El Paso misplayed a pass that put Ferreira in on goal but a defender recovered just enough to block the shot. Ten minutes later, El Paso defender Macauley King fired a shot at the upper corner but Switchbacks goalkeeper, Sean Melvin, got his fingertips to the ball to tip it over the bar.
With only nine minutes left in the game, El Paso redirected a cross to the left post back across the six-yard box to Leandro Carrijo who headed his effort towards goal from short range. However, Switchbacks defender Everardo Rubio was on the goal line to block the shot with his chest before clearing the ball to preserve the clean sheet and the draw with the 2019 Western Conference Finalists.
The Switchbacks end the 2020 USL Championship regular season on Saturday when the team travels to Oklahoma to take on FC Tulsa at 6pm MT.
Colorado Springs, CO (September 30, 2020) – The Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC played out to a scoreless draw against El Paso Locomotive FC on Wednesday night in the last ever game at Weidner Field.
In a tight first half, the Switchbacks had the best two opportunities starting with Aidan Daniels finding space on top of the penalty box and curling his effort just over the crossbar at the right post. The Switchbacks earned a corner kick in the 41st minute and played the ball short to Luke Ferreira on top of the penalty box but his shot was just wide of the left post.
Early in the second half, one of the best chances of the game fell to the foot of Luke Ferreira when El Paso misplayed a pass that put Ferreira in on goal but a defender recovered just enough to block the shot. Ten minutes later, El Paso defender Macauley King fired a shot at the upper corner but Switchbacks goalkeeper, Sean Melvin, got his fingertips to the ball to tip it over the bar.
With only nine minutes left in the game, El Paso redirected a cross to the left post back across the six-yard box to Leandro Carrijo who headed his effort towards goal from short range. However, Switchbacks defender Everardo Rubio was on the goal line to block the shot with his chest before clearing the ball to preserve the clean sheet and the draw with the 2019 Western Conference Finalists.
The Switchbacks end the 2020 USL Championship regular season on Saturday when the team travels to Oklahoma to take on FC Tulsa at 6pm MT.
Alan Koch
On keeping the team motivated to finish the 2020 season strong:
"The team we played against tonight has the potential to go on and win this thing. So for us to go toe to toe with them, and be a little disappointed that we didn’t win it in the end, shows the growth, shows where we’re going. I think we know we still got a long way to go. There’s moments in games that need to be a little bit better, but I’m incredibly proud of the performance tonight."
On what he wants to tell the fans:
"Thank you. Honestly, you can feel the love growing. And this is a new group, we’ve also got a new coaching staff, new players but you can feel when we walk around after the games, you can feel that love and you can feel that affection, and we truly appreciate it."
Jordan Burt
On getting a result tonight:
"This was one of our best games all season. It was awesome to see the work that guys put in. Definitely unfortunate to not get a win there. But it's a cruel game, you know. I probably should have scored that, could have gone on a high note, but it's a cruel game. Just gotta keep moving forward I guess."
On what he wants to tell the fans:
"Big thank you.You know I walked around afterwards and its crazy how many of them I know by name. Just appreciative of them supporting us through all the ups and downs. You know this is a special place, so I’ll be sad to not play anymore games here, but the fans make it special so thank you to the fans."
Rony Argueta
On the takeaways from tonight's game:
"The positive outlook on it really. They’re a really good team, El Paso, coach said it afterwards, they can definitely take it all the way and win it all. So for us to battle against them for a couple games now, I think that it shows a lot about what we have. I think it's just piecing it all together now."
On what he wants to tell the fans:
"Thank you guys for sticking with us, the highs and the lows. Definitely more lows, but you guys are always there for us. We really appreciate the support. Looking forward to next season, but we still got one more game, still got Tulsa so we’re looking to win that one."
Alan Koch
On keeping the team motivated to finish the 2020 season strong:
“The team we played against tonight has the potential to go on and win this thing. So for us to go toe to toe with them, and be a little disappointed that we didn’t win it in the end, shows the growth, shows where we’re going. I think we know we still got a long way to go. There’s moments in games that need to be a little bit better, but I’m incredibly proud of the performance tonight.”
On what he wants to tell the fans:
“Thank you. Honestly, you can feel the love growing. And this is a new group, we’ve also got a new coaching staff, new players but you can feel when we walk around after the games, you can feel that love and you can feel that affection, and we truly appreciate it.”
Jordan Burt
On getting a result tonight:
“This was one of our best games all season. It was awesome to see the work that guys put in. Definitely unfortunate to not get a win there. But it’s a cruel game, you know. I probably should have scored that, could have gone on a high note, but it’s a cruel game. Just gotta keep moving forward I guess.”
On what he wants to tell the fans:
“Big thank you.You know I walked around afterwards and its crazy how many of them I know by name. Just appreciative of them supporting us through all the ups and downs. You know this is a special place, so I’ll be sad to not play anymore games here, but the fans make it special so thank you to the fans.”
Rony Argueta
On the takeaways from tonight’s game:
“The positive outlook on it really. They’re a really good team, El Paso, coach said it afterwards, they can definitely take it all the way and win it all. So for us to battle against them for a couple games now, I think that it shows a lot about what we have. I think it’s just piecing it all together now.”
On what he wants to tell the fans:
“Thank you guys for sticking with us, the highs and the lows. Definitely more lows, but you guys are always there for us. We really appreciate the support. Looking forward to next season, but we still got one more game, still got Tulsa so we’re looking to win that one.”
- Man of the Match// Everardo Rubio
- Scoring Summary// COS: None | ELP: None
- Saves// COS: Melvin (2) | ELP: Ketterer (1)
- Discipline// COS: Rubio (11') | ELP: Robinson (57')
- Man of the Match// Everardo Rubio
- Scoring Summary// COS: None | ELP: None
- Saves// COS: Melvin (2) | ELP: Ketterer (1)
- Discipline// COS: Rubio (11′) | ELP: Robinson (57′)
