Match Preview

The Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC conclude the 2020 USL Championship season on Saturday evening against FC Tulsa at ONEOK Field in Oklahoma.  The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.  Saturday will be the first trip for the Switchbacks to ONEOK Field in Tulsa since a late April contest in 2019. 

On Wednesday evening the Switchbacks bid adieu to Weidner Field with a hard fought 0-0 draw against Group C leaders El Paso Locomotive FC.  In a play that typified the Switchbacks’ never-say-die spirit, center back Evarardo Rubio brilliantly kept El Paso off the scoresheet with an 81st minute goal-line clearance.  

The Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC conclude the 2020 USL Championship season on Saturday evening against FC Tulsa at ONEOK Field in Oklahoma.  The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.  Saturday will be the first trip for the Switchbacks to ONEOK Field in Tulsa since a late April contest in 2019. 

On Wednesday evening the Switchbacks bid adieu to Weidner Field with a hard fought 0-0 draw against Group C leaders El Paso Locomotive FC.  In a play that typified the Switchbacks’ never-say-die spirit, center back Evarardo Rubio brilliantly kept El Paso off the scoresheet with an 81st minute goal-line clearance.  

“It was an impressive play – anytime you clear the ball off the line it’s an important moment in the game,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Alan Koch.  “I think it was just showing a sense of togetherness and doing whatever it takes to preserve the clean sheet.  The Switchbacks can pride themselves on having had a blue-collar approach so far in the existence of the club and I think we need to stay true to that, but what we’ve really tried to do this year is to build on that by playing attractive football at the same time.  We don’t want to lose sight of what the club has built and where we’ve got to, but the flip side is that we’re obviously trying to play an attractive brand of soccer now as we move toward the new stadium next year.” 

“I’ve been feeling good and comfortable at center back and I’ve been very proud of the team,” said Culiacán-born Rubio on Thursday morning.  “Saturday is a very important game because it’s the last game of the season and we need to finish well at Tulsa – that would give us a good feeling as a team.  It will be a difficult game because we don’t have a lot of time to recover, so it’s very important that when we train we have good recovery so that we can be at 100% for the game.” 

“It was an impressive play – anytime you clear the ball off the line it’s an important moment in the game,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Alan Koch.  “I think it was just showing a sense of togetherness and doing whatever it takes to preserve the clean sheet.  The Switchbacks can pride themselves on having had a blue-collar approach so far in the existence of the club and I think we need to stay true to that, but what we’ve really tried to do this year is to build on that by playing attractive football at the same time.  We don’t want to lose sight of what the club has built and where we’ve got to, but the flip side is that we’re obviously trying to play an attractive brand of soccer now as we move toward the new stadium next year.” 

“I’ve been feeling good and comfortable at center back and I’ve been very proud of the team,” said Culiacán-born Rubio on Thursday morning.  “Saturday is a very important game because it’s the last game of the season and we need to finish well at Tulsa – that would give us a good feeling as a team.  It will be a difficult game because we don’t have a lot of time to recover, so it’s very important that when we train we have good recovery so that we can be at 100% for the game.” 

With just one day of preparation before making their way to the Sooner State, Switchbacks players were focused on recovery the day after the draw with El Paso.  “All the work has been done in preseason, and all the other times where we’ve had only a week to prepare we always planned ahead and Coach already knows what we’re capable of doing,” said South African George Lebese.  “So right now, it’s about taking care of our bodies and being ready to go for Saturday, but we’ll be good.  As a new group that only started playing together this season, I think we did ok at times.  Obviously we have quality players and we expect to do much better, but we did ok – especially towards the end.  We kept on fighting, we kept on improving, and we’ve been playing good teams that are making the playoffs and even they say that we’ve played some good football.  I think we’ve built a really solid foundation.  Overall we are not very happy, but we are happy with the progress.  We’ve learned a lot about each other and about the game as well.  I don’t think any of us has ever been in this kind of situation considering how crazy the year has been.  It’s definitely been a challenge for all of us.  Personally for me it’s been a challenge too; having to meet all these guys and learn to play with them and make friends and obviously spend time with them all season, and they’ve become like family.  I’ve enjoyed the challenge personally and it’s been great to be with this team.  Hopefully I’m going to help to make the results better next year.”

Cuban striker Darío Suárez leads FC Tulsa in goals with 8.  Former Switchbacks forward Tobenna Uzo notched a brace in FC Tulsa’s 3-2 victory against Sooner State rivals Oklahoma City Energy FC on Wednesday night, including an 88th minute winner.  Uzo, who was introduced into Wednesday’s match in the 77th minute, scored just two minutes after coming on before notching the aforementioned winner just before the end of regular time. 

With just one day of preparation before making their way to the Sooner State, Switchbacks players were focused on recovery the day after the draw with El Paso.  “All the work has been done in preseason, and all the other times where we’ve had only a week to prepare we always planned ahead and Coach already knows what we’re capable of doing,” said South African George Lebese.  “So right now, it’s about taking care of our bodies and being ready to go for Saturday, but we’ll be good.  As a new group that only started playing together this season, I think we did ok at times.  Obviously we have quality players and we expect to do much better, but we did ok – especially towards the end.  We kept on fighting, we kept on improving, and we’ve been playing good teams that are making the playoffs and even they say that we’ve played some good football.  I think we’ve built a really solid foundation.  Overall we are not very happy, but we are happy with the progress.  We’ve learned a lot about each other and about the game as well.  I don’t think any of us has ever been in this kind of situation considering how crazy the year has been.  It’s definitely been a challenge for all of us.  Personally for me it’s been a challenge too; having to meet all these guys and learn to play with them and make friends and obviously spend time with them all season, and they’ve become like family.  I’ve enjoyed the challenge personally and it’s been great to be with this team.  Hopefully I’m going to help to make the results better next year.”

Cuban striker Darío Suárez leads FC Tulsa in goals with 8.  Former Switchbacks forward Tobenna Uzo notched a brace in FC Tulsa’s 3-2 victory against Sooner State rivals Oklahoma City Energy FC on Wednesday night, including an 88th minute winner.  Uzo, who was introduced into Wednesday’s match in the 77th minute, scored just two minutes after coming on before notching the aforementioned winner just before the end of regular time. 

“Already today I’ve watched Tulsa – their games earlier this season, and their game last night against Oklahoma City,” said Head Coach Koch on Thursday evening.  “And I’ve re-watched our game from last night.  Tulsa are a team that’s flying.  You can see that they’re incredibly positive and they’re doing whatever it takes to win.  They scored two late goals last night to win the game and they’re on the cusp of making the playoffs.  As important as the game was last night against El Paso for El Paso to try to win the division, Saturday’s game is going to be equally important for Tulsa.  These are the games we want to play in.  We want to play in meaningful games and I thought our guys embraced a meaningful game last night and we expect our group to embrace another big challenge on Saturday.”  

Michigander Sean Lewis has started all of FC Tulsa’s matches in goal during the 2020 USL Championship season, with the former Oakland University shot-stopper having kept 3 clean sheets.  

San Antonio FC have long been confirmed as runaway winners of Group D of the USL Championship, with FC Tulsa and Austin Bold FC fighting over a berth in the 2020 Playoffs.  With Austin’s 2-0 loss on Wednesday night to the Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, FC Tulsa know that a draw against the Switchbacks on Saturday will be enough for Michael Nsien’s team to clinch a playoff berth.  

“Tulsa is a club that’s obviously invested a lot – they have new ownership that really came in with additional resources and they’ve invested very wisely,” added Koch.  “I like the makeup of their team.  They’ve signed some talented players – there’s a few that we actually tried to get last year that chose to go to Tulsa, so I’m looking forward to seeing them and playing against them.  I have a lot of respect for what Tulsa have done as a club and we’re trying to do the exact same thing.” 

“Already today I’ve watched Tulsa – their games earlier this season, and their game last night against Oklahoma City,” said Head Coach Koch on Thursday evening.  “And I’ve re-watched our game from last night.  Tulsa are a team that’s flying.  You can see that they’re incredibly positive and they’re doing whatever it takes to win.  They scored two late goals last night to win the game and they’re on the cusp of making the playoffs.  As important as the game was last night against El Paso for El Paso to try to win the division, Saturday’s game is going to be equally important for Tulsa.  These are the games we want to play in.  We want to play in meaningful games and I thought our guys embraced a meaningful game last night and we expect our group to embrace another big challenge on Saturday.”  

Michigander Sean Lewis has started all of FC Tulsa’s matches in goal during the 2020 USL Championship season, with the former Oakland University shot-stopper having kept 3 clean sheets.  

San Antonio FC have long been confirmed as runaway winners of Group D of the USL Championship, with FC Tulsa and Austin Bold FC fighting over a berth in the 2020 Playoffs.  With Austin’s 2-0 loss on Wednesday night to the Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, FC Tulsa know that a draw against the Switchbacks on Saturday will be enough for Michael Nsien’s team to clinch a playoff berth.  

“Tulsa is a club that’s obviously invested a lot – they have new ownership that really came in with additional resources and they’ve invested very wisely,” added Koch.  “I like the makeup of their team.  They’ve signed some talented players – there’s a few that we actually tried to get last year that chose to go to Tulsa, so I’m looking forward to seeing them and playing against them.  I have a lot of respect for what Tulsa have done as a club and we’re trying to do the exact same thing.” 

With the downtown stadium set to open next season, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC will play their final ever match at Weidner Field on Wednesday night as they welcome the El Paso Locomotive to Southern Colorado in a match presented by Pikes Peak National Bank. 

With the downtown stadium set to open next season, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC will play their final ever match at Weidner Field on Wednesday night as they welcome the El Paso Locomotive to Southern Colorado in a match presented by Pikes Peak National Bank. 

“We said to the guys today at training that Wednesday is a historic night for the Switchbacks,” said Head Coach Alan Koch.  “Playing our last game in a stadium is always going to be something you’re going to remember, and you’re going to remember things in a far more positive light when you win.  We’d like to go out and put in a good performance and hopefully get a good result for the fans.”

“We said to the guys today at training that Wednesday is a historic night for the Switchbacks,” said Head Coach Alan Koch.  “Playing our last game in a stadium is always going to be something you’re going to remember, and you’re going to remember things in a far more positive light when you win.  We’d like to go out and put in a good performance and hopefully get a good result for the fans.”

“Personally, it’s really important for me to win on Wednesday,” said Jordan Burt when asked about the significance of the final match at Weidner Field.  “There’s been so many great games and so many great players that have played on that field and you always remember your last game at certain places, so I want to make it a good memory.”

“Wednesday will be something special for sure,” said Switchbacks veteran Rony Argueta.  “And not just for the few of us that have been here for quite some time now, but for everyone.  I go back and I say the same thing; that’s why we play the game: we love it, we have fun, and ultimately, we want to win and we want to win here at home.  At this level it’s performance-based, so we’re going to look to win the game – that’s what we’re here to do.”  

El Paso sit atop Group C in the USL Championship, having clinched a berth in the playoffs alongside fellow Group C members New Mexico United.  On August 8th, El Paso ran away 4-2 winners against the Switchbacks at Southwest University Park in Far West Texas.  Wednesday’s opponents fought out a 0-0 draw on August 22nd at Weidner Field.  September 16th saw the Locomotive win 2-1 in El Paso, behind goals from former Switchback Saeed Robinson, and El Paso native Omar Salgado.  El Paso will be worried about the fitness of Salgado as they head into the playoffs, after the former United States youth international was forced off in the 18th minute of the Locomotive’s 0-0 draw last Saturday evening against New Mexico United at Southwest University Park. 

“El Paso are clearly a very good team,” said Burt.  “They’re playing for first place in the conference so it’s going to take a lot of work and hopefully we can put in a good shift.  Today is mostly about getting ready physically, and also to challenge everyone to come at this week with the right mental approach.  El Paso have got a lot to play for and we’ve got our pride to play for and I think that’s a good challenge mentally for everyone to rise to.”

“Personally, it’s really important for me to win on Wednesday,” said Jordan Burt when asked about the significance of the final match at Weidner Field.  “There’s been so many great games and so many great players that have played on that field and you always remember your last game at certain places, so I want to make it a good memory.”

“Wednesday will be something special for sure,” said Switchbacks veteran Rony Argueta.  “And not just for the few of us that have been here for quite some time now, but for everyone.  I go back and I say the same thing; that’s why we play the game: we love it, we have fun, and ultimately, we want to win and we want to win here at home.  At this level it’s performance-based, so we’re going to look to win the game – that’s what we’re here to do.”  

El Paso sit atop Group C in the USL Championship, having clinched a berth in the playoffs alongside fellow Group C members New Mexico United.  On August 8th, El Paso ran away 4-2 winners against the Switchbacks at Southwest University Park in Far West Texas.  Wednesday’s opponents fought out a 0-0 draw on August 22nd at Weidner Field.  September 16th saw the Locomotive win 2-1 in El Paso, behind goals from former Switchback Saeed Robinson, and El Paso native Omar Salgado.  El Paso will be worried about the fitness of Salgado as they head into the playoffs, after the former United States youth international was forced off in the 18th minute of the Locomotive’s 0-0 draw last Saturday evening against New Mexico United at Southwest University Park. 

“El Paso are clearly a very good team,” said Burt.  “They’re playing for first place in the conference so it’s going to take a lot of work and hopefully we can put in a good shift.  Today is mostly about getting ready physically, and also to challenge everyone to come at this week with the right mental approach.  El Paso have got a lot to play for and we’ve got our pride to play for and I think that’s a good challenge mentally for everyone to rise to.”

“They’re a really good team – especially with the ball and in possession,” said Argueta on Monday afternoon when asked about the Locomotive.  “I think we can hurt them on the counter-attack, especially out here with the altitude.  Toward the end the game could get stretched and we’ll look to punish them if we can.  Today was mainly regen and guys that didn’t get a lot of playing time on Saturday trained a little longer, but tomorrow will be a little more tactical and more preparation for our game on Wednesday.”

El Paso are unbeaten since a 3-1 defeat in The Valley of the Sun to Phoenix Rising on August 1st.  Undisputed number one goalkeeper Logan Ketterer has kept back-to-back clean sheets behind a defense that’s anchored by Haitian international center back Mechack Jérôme.  

“They’re a really good team – especially with the ball and in possession,” said Argueta on Monday afternoon when asked about the Locomotive.  “I think we can hurt them on the counter-attack, especially out here with the altitude.  Toward the end the game could get stretched and we’ll look to punish them if we can.  Today was mainly regen and guys that didn’t get a lot of playing time on Saturday trained a little longer, but tomorrow will be a little more tactical and more preparation for our game on Wednesday.”

El Paso are unbeaten since a 3-1 defeat in The Valley of the Sun to Phoenix Rising on August 1st.  Undisputed number one goalkeeper Logan Ketterer has kept back-to-back clean sheets behind a defense that’s anchored by Haitian international center back Mechack Jérôme.  

“I think on Wednesday we’ll have to put in our best performance of the season,” said Koch.  “El Paso are one of, if not the top team in the entire league.  They’re flying – they’ve not lost a game in their last nine, so they’re going to come in with a lot of confidence and they’ll want to win in order to win the division, so they’re going to be motivated.  We’re going to be motivated too – we’re both playing for different things, but at the end of the day, we’re both playing for three points.” 

The Switchbacks will conclude the 2020 USL Championship season on the road against Tulsa FC on Saturday evening at ONEOK Field. 

“I think on Wednesday we’ll have to put in our best performance of the season,” said Koch.  “El Paso are one of, if not the top team in the entire league.  They’re flying – they’ve not lost a game in their last nine, so they’re going to come in with a lot of confidence and they’ll want to win in order to win the division, so they’re going to be motivated.  We’re going to be motivated too – we’re both playing for different things, but at the end of the day, we’re both playing for three points.” 

The Switchbacks will conclude the 2020 USL Championship season on the road against Tulsa FC on Saturday evening at ONEOK Field. 

It’s the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC.  It’s New Mexico United.  It’s on Saturday night, and it’s at Weidner Field.  

The Switchbacks will have just one day of preparation for the match against high-flying New Mexico United after arriving back in Colorado on Thursday following a mid-week matchup with the El Paso Locomotive in Far West Texas.  Saturday’s match will see New Mexico hosting proceedings at Weidner Field, with up to 1,000 fans making their way to Southern Colorado from the Land of Enchantment.  

“It’s obviously a very quick turnaround between going and playing at a top team in El Paso and now playing home – or away, whatever we’re going to call it – against New Mexico, so it’s not an easy week but this has not been an easy season,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Alan Koch.  “We’re going to embrace the challenge.  We want to see growth and we saw good things in the game in El Paso.  We just have to minimize some of the tough moments and try to create more opportunities up front – that’s got to be one of our focuses this weekend.”  

It’s the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC.  It’s New Mexico United.  It’s on Saturday night, and it’s at Weidner Field.  

The Switchbacks will have just one day of preparation for the match against high-flying New Mexico United after arriving back in Colorado on Thursday following a mid-week matchup with the El Paso Locomotive in Far West Texas.  Saturday’s match will see New Mexico hosting proceedings at Weidner Field, with up to 1,000 fans making their way to Southern Colorado from the Land of Enchantment.  

“It’s obviously a very quick turnaround between going and playing at a top team in El Paso and now playing home – or away, whatever we’re going to call it – against New Mexico, so it’s not an easy week but this has not been an easy season,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Alan Koch.  “We’re going to embrace the challenge.  We want to see growth and we saw good things in the game in El Paso.  We just have to minimize some of the tough moments and try to create more opportunities up front – that’s got to be one of our focuses this weekend.”  

“For us right now, everyone is hungry to get a win and keep progressing,” said Switchbacks veteran Jordan Burt on Thursday evening.  “We have a lot to play for personally and as a team.  We just want to keep pushing on.  We know New Mexico very well and I like the way we match up with them.  I look back at our games this season against New Mexico and we’ve always played well – now it’s just a matter of putting that all together and turning it into three points.  Saturday is going to be another physical game, so getting our legs back under us tomorrow is priority number one for the team right now.  As a defender getting a clean sheet is really important to me personally, but I think as a team we just need to play to win and have that body language and that energy where we’re the aggressor – when we do that we’re at our best.”

Mamadi Camara scored his first professional goal for the Switchbacks in Wednesday evening’s match against the El Paso Locomotive after a perfect cross from Luke Ferreira found Camara.   “The first professional goal is always one to remember,” said Switchbacks veteran Jordan Burt.  “I’m happy for him, especially to get the first one – that’s the hardest – and hopefully they can keep going in these next few games.”

“It was awesome for him [Camara] – and it was nice to see him and Luke [Ferreira] and Uvaldo [Luna] all come off the bench and make a difference,” said Head Coach Koch.  “They brought energy and creativity against El Paso and it’s always great to see players get rewarded for their efforts.”  

New Mexico United were well represented on the USL Championship Team of the Week after a 2-0 win in Utah on Saturday against the reigning champions, Real Monarch SLC.  Austin Yearwood and Amando Moreno were both recognized by the USL, with Moreno unlucky not to have garnered a starting position on the Team of the Week after scoring both of New Mexico United’s goals.

Moreno sits tied with Chris Wehan on top of New Mexico United’s goal-scoring chart with both players having scored 6 goals in 2020.  Wehan scored the winner for United on August 15th against the Switchbacks, while Moreno notched a penalty kick equalizer for the team from Albuquerque at Weidner Field on August 29th.  

“For us right now, everyone is hungry to get a win and keep progressing,” said Switchbacks veteran Jordan Burt on Thursday evening.  “We have a lot to play for personally and as a team.  We just want to keep pushing on.  We know New Mexico very well and I like the way we match up with them.  I look back at our games this season against New Mexico and we’ve always played well – now it’s just a matter of putting that all together and turning it into three points.  Saturday is going to be another physical game, so getting our legs back under us tomorrow is priority number one for the team right now.  As a defender getting a clean sheet is really important to me personally, but I think as a team we just need to play to win and have that body language and that energy where we’re the aggressor – when we do that we’re at our best.”

Mamadi Camara scored his first professional goal for the Switchbacks in Wednesday evening’s match against the El Paso Locomotive after a perfect cross from Luke Ferreira found Camara.   “The first professional goal is always one to remember,” said Switchbacks veteran Jordan Burt.  “I’m happy for him, especially to get the first one – that’s the hardest – and hopefully they can keep going in these next few games.”

“It was awesome for him [Camara] – and it was nice to see him and Luke [Ferreira] and Uvaldo [Luna] all come off the bench and make a difference,” said Head Coach Koch.  “They brought energy and creativity against El Paso and it’s always great to see players get rewarded for their efforts.”  

New Mexico United were well represented on the USL Championship Team of the Week after a 2-0 win in Utah on Saturday against the reigning champions, Real Monarch SLC.  Austin Yearwood and Amando Moreno were both recognized by the USL, with Moreno unlucky not to have garnered a starting position on the Team of the Week after scoring both of New Mexico United’s goals.

Moreno sits tied with Chris Wehan on top of New Mexico United’s goal-scoring chart with both players having scored 6 goals in 2020.  Wehan scored the winner for United on August 15th against the Switchbacks, while Moreno notched a penalty kick equalizer for the team from Albuquerque at Weidner Field on August 29th.  

“We’ve been put into this group with some very high quality teams so we have to be aware of our opponents on Saturday and what they have,” said Head Coach Alan Koch.  “But we’re trying to focus on ourselves and focus on our players and see our players develop throughout the course of the season and try to show some real growth as a team.  The biggest focus for us this year – right from the very beginning – has been our growth and development and we want to continue to see that as we move forward here through the last few games.”  

“Friday will be a lighter session for the guys who played a lot of minutes in El Paso,” added Koch on Thursday afternoon.  “There will be a regen to get their legs going again and we’ll do a little bit more with the guys who didn’t play to just get their legs sharp and ready to play in the game on Saturday.  There’s not much we can do in terms of adjusting our lineup or our squad because we had a small group to start off with, and now with the inability for any movement between the Rapids and ourselves, and having several players out injured, we have to maximize the group that we have at our disposal.  We’re trying to show growth and this is not an easy season by any means.”

The Switchbacks will be back at Weidner Field next Saturday to host the Real Monarchs SLC.  The final match of the 2020 USL Championship season in Colorado Springs will take place on Wednesday, September 30th as the Switchbacks welcome El Paso Locomotive to Weidner Field. 

“We’ve been put into this group with some very high quality teams so we have to be aware of our opponents on Saturday and what they have,” said Head Coach Alan Koch.  “But we’re trying to focus on ourselves and focus on our players and see our players develop throughout the course of the season and try to show some real growth as a team.  The biggest focus for us this year – right from the very beginning – has been our growth and development and we want to continue to see that as we move forward here through the last few games.”  

“Friday will be a lighter session for the guys who played a lot of minutes in El Paso,” added Koch on Thursday afternoon.  “There will be a regen to get their legs going again and we’ll do a little bit more with the guys who didn’t play to just get their legs sharp and ready to play in the game on Saturday.  There’s not much we can do in terms of adjusting our lineup or our squad because we had a small group to start off with, and now with the inability for any movement between the Rapids and ourselves, and having several players out injured, we have to maximize the group that we have at our disposal.  We’re trying to show growth and this is not an easy season by any means.”

The Switchbacks will be back at Weidner Field next Saturday to host the Real Monarchs SLC.  The final match of the 2020 USL Championship season in Colorado Springs will take place on Wednesday, September 30th as the Switchbacks welcome El Paso Locomotive to Weidner Field. 

A return to Texas border country beckons on Wednesday evening as the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC head south to face a streaking El Paso Locomotive FC at Southwest University Park.  

El Paso inflicted San Antonio FC’s first loss of the 2020 USL Championship season on Saturday evening, with the Locomotive winning 2-1 in Far West Texas.  Aaron Gómez moved into the lead on the Locomotive’s goal-scoring charts after deftly sliding home a late first half penalty kick against San Antonio.  Luis Solignac equalized for San Antonio before the match was settled in stoppage-time through a quick-ricochet own-goal from Mitchell Taintor.

“I think El Paso is one of the most difficult places to go play in the entire USL Championship, and it showed with San Antonio going there undefeated last week and losing to El Paso,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Alan Koch.  “We’re under no illusions and we know this is going to be a very challenging trip.  Last time we went there it was men against boys for most of the game, but I felt like we showed a lot of character when they came up to our place.  We showed growth in that game, and now this is going to be another big challenge, but we want big challenges – that’s part of our assessment this year.  That’s the big bonus of being in this group, where every game is a very difficult challenge, so we’d rather play these games because it allows us to assess what we’re building, but it also gives all of us – players and the entire team – an opportunity to rise to the challenge.  This is going to be a big test because El Paso are going to be flying high.  You don’t just beat San Antonio easily, so El Paso are now on a bit of a roll.” 

A return to Texas border country beckons on Wednesday evening as the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC head south to face a streaking El Paso Locomotive FC at Southwest University Park.  

El Paso inflicted San Antonio FC’s first loss of the 2020 USL Championship season on Saturday evening, with the Locomotive winning 2-1 in Far West Texas.  Aaron Gómez moved into the lead on the Locomotive’s goal-scoring charts after deftly sliding home a late first half penalty kick against San Antonio.  Luis Solignac equalized for San Antonio before the match was settled in stoppage-time through a quick-ricochet own-goal from Mitchell Taintor.

“I think El Paso is one of the most difficult places to go play in the entire USL Championship, and it showed with San Antonio going there undefeated last week and losing to El Paso,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Alan Koch.  “We’re under no illusions and we know this is going to be a very challenging trip.  Last time we went there it was men against boys for most of the game, but I felt like we showed a lot of character when they came up to our place.  We showed growth in that game, and now this is going to be another big challenge, but we want big challenges – that’s part of our assessment this year.  That’s the big bonus of being in this group, where every game is a very difficult challenge, so we’d rather play these games because it allows us to assess what we’re building, but it also gives all of us – players and the entire team – an opportunity to rise to the challenge.  This is going to be a big test because El Paso are going to be flying high.  You don’t just beat San Antonio easily, so El Paso are now on a bit of a roll.” 

“Wednesday is definitely going to be a battle,” said central midfielder Rony Argueta.  “We just need to come out and compete.  We keep repeating it; we’re all good players technically and that’s why we’re here at this level, but it comes down to our mindset and wanting to compete and making sure we take care of the details.”  

The Switchbacks and Locomotive have already faced off twice in 2020, with the Locomotive recording a 4-2 win in Texas on August 8th.  Wednesday’s opponents fought out a 0-0 draw on August 22nd at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs.  

“In this group where you play everybody so many times, and we all analyze each other endlessly, I think we all have a pretty good idea of exactly how every team is going to play,” said Head Coach Koch.  “We’re definitely aware of El Paso, but we really want to focus on ourselves.  If we can go in there and play with confidence and put our best foot forward, then hopefully that can lead to a good performance which I think means coming out of the gates with energy and being ready to play right from the start.  Obviously, we have to get the defensive end right, but the best way to defend is to attack, so we want to try to possess the ball as much as possible and hopefully that can allow us to go and create more chances.”  

“Wednesday is definitely going to be a battle,” said central midfielder Rony Argueta.  “We just need to come out and compete.  We keep repeating it; we’re all good players technically and that’s why we’re here at this level, but it comes down to our mindset and wanting to compete and making sure we take care of the details.”  

The Switchbacks and Locomotive have already faced off twice in 2020, with the Locomotive recording a 4-2 win in Texas on August 8th.  Wednesday’s opponents fought out a 0-0 draw on August 22nd at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs.  

“In this group where you play everybody so many times, and we all analyze each other endlessly, I think we all have a pretty good idea of exactly how every team is going to play,” said Head Coach Koch.  “We’re definitely aware of El Paso, but we really want to focus on ourselves.  If we can go in there and play with confidence and put our best foot forward, then hopefully that can lead to a good performance which I think means coming out of the gates with energy and being ready to play right from the start.  Obviously, we have to get the defensive end right, but the best way to defend is to attack, so we want to try to possess the ball as much as possible and hopefully that can allow us to go and create more chances.”  

During the 2020 USL Championship season, the Switchbacks have passed the ball at over an 82% success rate, with Alan Koch’s team nearing 4,000 completed passes.  “I looked the other day, and we were second out of thirty-five teams in the entire league in passing accuracy and that shows what we’re trying to build,” said Koch.  “That shows philosophically what we’re doing and why we’re working a certain way and why we’re trying to play the way we are.  It’s important to keep possession and it’s important to make sure you go create with it.  I think the biggest progression from just keeping the ball is what’s your purpose, and the purpose is to go and create opportunities to score, so I think it’s a huge positive that we have such a high passing accuracy.  But we want to work towards going and creating opportunities with that possession.  We’re trying to build something and being a possession-based team and having technically sound players is part of that and the players have shown that, but in these last five games we want to try and take a step forward and create more chances for ourselves.”  

“Coach is a big believer in us keeping possession,” said Rony Argueta on Monday afternoon.  “He always tells us that we have to possess, but with a purpose – not just possession for the sake of it.  It’s going to be important for us to keep the ball against El Paso because they’re a team that wants to possess and they have a lot of good players that can do that.  But we also need to be creative up top and in the final third with the ball.  We need to be versatile with our attack – whether we’re attacking on the wing with our fullbacks or our wingers or building through the middle.”

Weidner Field will see the Switchbacks face off against New Mexico United on Saturday evening, in a match where New Mexico are designated as the hosts.  After a week of recovery for the Switchbacks, the Real Monarchs SLC will head to Southern Colorado on Saturday, September 26th for the final Rocky Mountain showdown of the season.  

The Switchbacks conclude their September slate on Wednesday, September 30th as they once again face the El Paso Locomotive at Weidner Field.  

During the 2020 USL Championship season, the Switchbacks have passed the ball at over an 82% success rate, with Alan Koch’s team nearing 4,000 completed passes.  “I looked the other day, and we were second out of thirty-five teams in the entire league in passing accuracy and that shows what we’re trying to build,” said Koch.  “That shows philosophically what we’re doing and why we’re working a certain way and why we’re trying to play the way we are.  It’s important to keep possession and it’s important to make sure you go create with it.  I think the biggest progression from just keeping the ball is what’s your purpose, and the purpose is to go and create opportunities to score, so I think it’s a huge positive that we have such a high passing accuracy.  But we want to work towards going and creating opportunities with that possession.  We’re trying to build something and being a possession-based team and having technically sound players is part of that and the players have shown that, but in these last five games we want to try and take a step forward and create more chances for ourselves.”  

“Coach is a big believer in us keeping possession,” said Rony Argueta on Monday afternoon.  “He always tells us that we have to possess, but with a purpose – not just possession for the sake of it.  It’s going to be important for us to keep the ball against El Paso because they’re a team that wants to possess and they have a lot of good players that can do that.  But we also need to be creative up top and in the final third with the ball.  We need to be versatile with our attack – whether we’re attacking on the wing with our fullbacks or our wingers or building through the middle.”

Weidner Field will see the Switchbacks face off against New Mexico United on Saturday evening, in a match where New Mexico are designated as the hosts.  After a week of recovery for the Switchbacks, the Real Monarchs SLC will head to Southern Colorado on Saturday, September 26th for the final Rocky Mountain showdown of the season.  

The Switchbacks conclude their September slate on Wednesday, September 30th as they once again face the El Paso Locomotive at Weidner Field.  

Rivalries will be renewed this Wednesday as the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC head west to face the Real Monarchs SLC at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah.  On July 18th, the Switchbacks fought back with two goals in the final six minutes to tie the Monarchs 3-3 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Utah.  Two weeks in later in Southern Colorado, the Monarchs clinched a stoppage-time victory over the Switchbacks at Weidner Field, with Taylor Peay scoring in the 93rd minute at Weidner Field.  

The Switchbacks head into Wednesday’s match after securing 4 points during a home stand that concluded on Saturday evening with a hard-fought scoreless draw against the Oklahoma City Energy FC.  “I think it’s always really positive when the team gets a clean sheet,” said starting goalkeeper Sean Melvin after recording his first clean sheet for the Switchbacks.  “The guys really helped out.  I don’t think OKC got a single shot on goal in the whole game, which made my job a lot easier, and we hope we can build off that defensively and get something going forward and score some goals in Salt Lake.”

Rivalries will be renewed this Wednesday as the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC head west to face the Real Monarchs SLC at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah.  On July 18th, the Switchbacks fought back with two goals in the final six minutes to tie the Monarchs 3-3 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Utah.  Two weeks in later in Southern Colorado, the Monarchs clinched a stoppage-time victory over the Switchbacks at Weidner Field, with Taylor Peay scoring in the 93rd minute at Weidner Field.  

The Switchbacks head into Wednesday’s match after securing 4 points during a home stand that concluded on Saturday evening with a hard-fought scoreless draw against the Oklahoma City Energy FC.  “I think it’s always really positive when the team gets a clean sheet,” said starting goalkeeper Sean Melvin after recording his first clean sheet for the Switchbacks.  “The guys really helped out.  I don’t think OKC got a single shot on goal in the whole game, which made my job a lot easier, and we hope we can build off that defensively and get something going forward and score some goals in Salt Lake.”

“Coming off a good game against OKC we’ll be ready for the Monarchs,” said Rony Argueta on Monday morning.  “The game against OKC was the first time we’ve faced a team that’s sat back and didn’t really press us, and the Monarchs have a much different style.  We’ve had two days of preparation and we’ll be ready to go.  As a group we feel ready and it helps that we’ve been to Salt Lake before.  We started the season a little slow – especially defensively – so the clean sheet is big for us.  Our back line and our two holding mids have been very solid and we’ve built a good foundation and we’ll look to keep growing and strengthening that.”

“Coming off a good game against OKC we’ll be ready for the Monarchs,” said Rony Argueta on Monday morning.  “The game against OKC was the first time we’ve faced a team that’s sat back and didn’t really press us, and the Monarchs have a much different style.  We’ve had two days of preparation and we’ll be ready to go.  As a group we feel ready and it helps that we’ve been to Salt Lake before.  We started the season a little slow – especially defensively – so the clean sheet is big for us.  Our back line and our two holding mids have been very solid and we’ve built a good foundation and we’ll look to keep growing and strengthening that.”

Argueta and captain Hiroki Kurimoto have formed a foundational partnership in the heart of central midfield for a Switchbacks team that gave new-signing Gabe Robinson his debut against OKC on Saturday night.  “Gabe is not a natural right back, so anytime you play a player out of position it’s a challenge, and particularly being his first game for our club and with our group of players, I thought he did very very well,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Alan Koch.  “He was just a solid, steady presence and kept the game nice and simple, so I think he had a very positive debut.  I always speak about individual responsibility, but then I also speak about partnerships within the collective of the team; and Rony and Hiro are really developing a good understanding of each other, where each other are in possession, and how to help each other out when we don’t have possession.  One of the bright spots – and there’s been several – of the recent games is the growth of both of those players and their understanding of how to play together.”

“When you have a new guy come in they always show a lot of energy because they’re excited to be in the team,” said Melvin when asked about Robinson’s first Switchbacks appearance.  “I think he did well.  He was solid, he fit in really well with the rest of the guys, and I think he had a good game.”

“It was good for the team, and good individually for him – [Gabe] played his role well and he did his job and he helped us get the clean sheet,” added Argueta.  “We’re happy as a collective and for him individually.”

On Saturday evening the Monarchs arrested a four-match losing streak by defeating the Tacoma Defiance 1-0 behind a deft header by Luis Arriaga.  Jimmy Slayton preserved the Monarchs’ first clean sheet of the 2020 campaign, as the reigning USL Championship winners moved to within a point of the Switchbacks in Group C.

Mid-July’s aforementioned 3-3 draw between the Monarchs and Switchbacks was Colorado Springs’ highest goal output away from Weidner Field in 2020.  Andorran left back Joan Cervós opened his goal scoring account for the Switchbacks in first-half stoppage time, before last-gasp goals from Jordan Burt and Abdul Rwatubyaye secured the draw.

“In a short season, sometimes you don’t get the opportunity to play against different styles and I’m glad we played against Oklahoma City because they posed a different type of challenge,” said Koch.  “Those are growth opportunities.  When a team presses you; you have to deal with it.  When they sit off; you have to deal with it.  These are opportunities for us to learn and improve and we said that to the guys after the game on Saturday.  It was a different kind of challenge and we’re glad we went through that, but now playing the Monarchs will be a whole new type of challenge.  When we went there the first time we scored late and left happy, and when they came to us in the second game they scored late and they left happy.  We want to go and put in a good performance and make sure we leave happy at the end of the game.” 

Argueta and captain Hiroki Kurimoto have formed a foundational partnership in the heart of central midfield for a Switchbacks team that gave new-signing Gabe Robinson his debut against OKC on Saturday night.  “Gabe is not a natural right back, so anytime you play a player out of position it’s a challenge, and particularly being his first game for our club and with our group of players, I thought he did very very well,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Alan Koch.  “He was just a solid, steady presence and kept the game nice and simple, so I think he had a very positive debut.  I always speak about individual responsibility, but then I also speak about partnerships within the collective of the team; and Rony and Hiro are really developing a good understanding of each other, where each other are in possession, and how to help each other out when we don’t have possession.  One of the bright spots – and there’s been several – of the recent games is the growth of both of those players and their understanding of how to play together.”

“When you have a new guy come in they always show a lot of energy because they’re excited to be in the team,” said Melvin when asked about Robinson’s first Switchbacks appearance.  “I think he did well.  He was solid, he fit in really well with the rest of the guys, and I think he had a good game.”

“It was good for the team, and good individually for him – [Gabe] played his role well and he did his job and he helped us get the clean sheet,” added Argueta.  “We’re happy as a collective and for him individually.”

On Saturday evening the Monarchs arrested a four-match losing streak by defeating the Tacoma Defiance 1-0 behind a deft header by Luis Arriaga.  Jimmy Slayton preserved the Monarchs’ first clean sheet of the 2020 campaign, as the reigning USL Championship winners moved to within a point of the Switchbacks in Group C.

Mid-July’s aforementioned 3-3 draw between the Monarchs and Switchbacks was Colorado Springs’ highest goal output away from Weidner Field in 2020.  Andorran left back Joan Cervós opened his goal scoring account for the Switchbacks in first-half stoppage time, before last-gasp goals from Jordan Burt and Abdul Rwatubyaye secured the draw.

“In a short season, sometimes you don’t get the opportunity to play against different styles and I’m glad we played against Oklahoma City because they posed a different type of challenge,” said Koch.  “Those are growth opportunities.  When a team presses you; you have to deal with it.  When they sit off; you have to deal with it.  These are opportunities for us to learn and improve and we said that to the guys after the game on Saturday.  It was a different kind of challenge and we’re glad we went through that, but now playing the Monarchs will be a whole new type of challenge.  When we went there the first time we scored late and left happy, and when they came to us in the second game they scored late and they left happy.  We want to go and put in a good performance and make sure we leave happy at the end of the game.” 

“Obviously, OKC and Salt Lake have a bit of a different style but we’ll just try to keep playing our game,” said Sean Melvin.  “We had the clean sheet last game and we’ll use that as a base to build off and we’ll try and take the game to them.  You know what you’re getting yourself into with the same travel and same hotel so I think mentally it will be a bit easier with us knowing what we’re going into and I think we’ll be ready for the game.  I think we just need a bit more energy to score.  We just need that last little determining effort to get us over the line – that collective effort from the group will get us there.  As a goalkeeper, I always look at the clean sheet first, and if we’re not giving our opponent anything we can use that and have that confidence that we’re not giving anything away, and we can build on that.”

“We’re able to progress the ball up the field and we’re able to have the ball where we need, so we just need to be a little more creative in front of goal so we can get clear opportunities for our attackers to put them away,” said Argueta.  “We’ll work hard and do everything we can to get a good result against a good Monarchs team.”  

Following Wednesday’s match the Switchbacks will return home before making the trip to Far West Texas to face El Paso Locomotive on Wednesday, September 16th at Southwest University Park.  The Switchbacks will return to Weidner Field to host the Real Monarchs on September 26th.  

“Obviously, OKC and Salt Lake have a bit of a different style but we’ll just try to keep playing our game,” said Sean Melvin.  “We had the clean sheet last game and we’ll use that as a base to build off and we’ll try and take the game to them.  You know what you’re getting yourself into with the same travel and same hotel so I think mentally it will be a bit easier with us knowing what we’re going into and I think we’ll be ready for the game.  I think we just need a bit more energy to score.  We just need that last little determining effort to get us over the line – that collective effort from the group will get us there.  As a goalkeeper, I always look at the clean sheet first, and if we’re not giving our opponent anything we can use that and have that confidence that we’re not giving anything away, and we can build on that.”

“We’re able to progress the ball up the field and we’re able to have the ball where we need, so we just need to be a little more creative in front of goal so we can get clear opportunities for our attackers to put them away,” said Argueta.  “We’ll work hard and do everything we can to get a good result against a good Monarchs team.”  

Following Wednesday’s match the Switchbacks will return home before making the trip to Far West Texas to face El Paso Locomotive on Wednesday, September 16th at Southwest University Park.  The Switchbacks will return to Weidner Field to host the Real Monarchs on September 26th.  

Fresh off one of the wildest games in USL Championship history, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC return to Weidner Field on Saturday evening as they host New Mexico United.  On Wednesday night, four first half goals from visiting Austin Bold FC seemed to have decided proceedings in Colorado Springs, before the Switchbacks stormed back to become the first team in USL Championship history to come back from 4-0 down to end the game tied.  

Fresh off one of the wildest games in USL Championship history, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC return to Weidner Field on Saturday evening as they host New Mexico United.  On Wednesday night, four first half goals from visiting Austin Bold FC seemed to have decided proceedings in Colorado Springs, before the Switchbacks stormed back to become the first team in USL Championship history to come back from 4-0 down to end the game tied.  

“We didn’t have much to lose going into halftime at 4-0 down,” said George Lebese.  “It was up to us to basically restore our pride and show the fans that we are working hard for the team.  We wanted to make the fans proud.  Even if the results don’t go our way, the fans really need to see the effort in each and every one of us – that’s the only thing we have control over.  We have to push and keep pushing until the 90th minute, so going into halftime Coach told us that we have nothing to lose but our pride and the supporters that are here.  So we really went all out and we didn’t care what was going to happen because it was already 4-0, so we just pushed and gave it our all and we were fortunate to get a draw out of it.  We felt that we could have won the game if we’d had a little more time.  We’re okay with the point, but we have to reflect on that first half and how it happened and try to rectify all those mistakes.”

“I don’t know if it was something that was said at halftime, it was just the mentality of the group that got us back in it,” said Christian Volesky on Thursday morning.  “We talked about the reality of the situation in this game of football and how quickly things can change.  We’re talking about jobs.  I’ve seen guys who can be better than every guy in our locker room who don’t have a job in this sport, and I’ve seen guys who aren’t as good as anybody in our locker room who still have a job because of their work ethic.  It comes down to our ability to want to win that game and get back and tie that game.  It was still in the balance even when we were down 4-0.  It was a reality check for everybody…there were two options; this could be the beginning to an end, or a start to something good.  Coming back to tie the game gave us a challenge and is the beginning to start something special here.  We owed it to the fans to get back into it and they helped us get through it and hopefully they can do that again on Saturday.  We needed that point with how hard we work in off-season’s and through these difficult times and through training over these last few weeks.”

Switchbacks Head Coach Alan Koch was succinct when asked for the message he imparted to his team during halftime.  “To be brutally honest, there were no swear-words, there was no raising the voice, it was just very very pointed.  It was just the reality of this business and what we’re trying to do as a club.  I literally just told them that this was either the beginning, or this is the beginning of the end, and that we needed to see a reaction.  I was very happy and pleased to get the reaction that we did, but we shouldn’t be getting ourselves into holes like we got ourselves in during the first 45 minutes.”

“We didn’t have much to lose going into halftime at 4-0 down,” said George Lebese.  “It was up to us to basically restore our pride and show the fans that we are working hard for the team.  We wanted to make the fans proud.  Even if the results don’t go our way, the fans really need to see the effort in each and every one of us – that’s the only thing we have control over.  We have to push and keep pushing until the 90th minute, so going into halftime Coach told us that we have nothing to lose but our pride and the supporters that are here.  So we really went all out and we didn’t care what was going to happen because it was already 4-0, so we just pushed and gave it our all and we were fortunate to get a draw out of it.  We felt that we could have won the game if we’d had a little more time.  We’re okay with the point, but we have to reflect on that first half and how it happened and try to rectify all those mistakes.”

“I don’t know if it was something that was said at halftime, it was just the mentality of the group that got us back in it,” said Christian Volesky on Thursday morning.  “We talked about the reality of the situation in this game of football and how quickly things can change.  We’re talking about jobs.  I’ve seen guys who can be better than every guy in our locker room who don’t have a job in this sport, and I’ve seen guys who aren’t as good as anybody in our locker room who still have a job because of their work ethic.  It comes down to our ability to want to win that game and get back and tie that game.  It was still in the balance even when we were down 4-0.  It was a reality check for everybody…there were two options; this could be the beginning to an end, or a start to something good.  Coming back to tie the game gave us a challenge and is the beginning to start something special here.  We owed it to the fans to get back into it and they helped us get through it and hopefully they can do that again on Saturday.  We needed that point with how hard we work in off-season’s and through these difficult times and through training over these last few weeks.”

Switchbacks Head Coach Alan Koch was succinct when asked for the message he imparted to his team during halftime.  “To be brutally honest, there were no swear-words, there was no raising the voice, it was just very very pointed.  It was just the reality of this business and what we’re trying to do as a club.  I literally just told them that this was either the beginning, or this is the beginning of the end, and that we needed to see a reaction.  I was very happy and pleased to get the reaction that we did, but we shouldn’t be getting ourselves into holes like we got ourselves in during the first 45 minutes.”

Christian Volesky scored twice for the Switchbacks in the second half on Wednesday against the Bold after a formation tweak that saw him lead the line for the Switchbacks as the out-and-out striker.  “It’s always good to get some goals, but it was more important to get the result,” said the Henderson, Nevada native.  “We wanted to win, but for me to get going is a confidence booster.  For Saturday, we need to get our legs back, and get ourselves back mentally.  We spent a lot of energy mentally getting back into the game last night, but we know it’s do or die.  We have a home game and it’s our responsibility to get three points on Saturday no matter what the challenge is that’s thrown our way.”

South African winger Lebese sealed the comeback for the Switchbacks in the 84th minute against Austin Bold with a stunning strike.  Said the young man from Mamelodi, in Gauteng province, South Africa, “Personally I feel good – I think I’m just starting to get a little more confidence.  There’s a lot that I feel like I still need to offer to the team, but I feel good going into the New Mexico game.  That’s going to be tough.  New Mexico play really good football, they’re top of the group, and we’re going to have to be much better than what we showed in the first half last night.  We need to focus a little more about ourselves today and tomorrow and try to build from the second half performance that we showed.  We give them respect because New Mexico play good football – they’re not on top by chance.  New Mexico play pretty football, they score good goals…but it’s really about us this week.  We have to go out there on the day, give it a good fight, take the second half performance into that game, and if we can do that I think we can really do well.” 

New Mexico United have not played since recording a 2-1 win over the Real Monarchs in Sandy, Utah on Saturday evening behind goals from Amando Moreno and Chris Wehan.   It was New Mexico United’s second straight victory over the defending USL Championship winners, having won 2-0 against the Monarchs on Wednesday, August 19th in Utah.

Chris Wehan scored the winner against the Switchbacks on July 11th at Weidner Field as New Mexico United sealed a 2-1 victory.  Wehan again played the role of match winner on August 15th, with his lone goal leading New Mexico to a 1-0 victory at Weidner Field.  Former Switchbacks captain Josh Suggs could make history for New Mexico United on Saturday, as the Las Cruces native is poised to move into second-place on the USL Championship’s list of all-time regular season minutes played.  

Christian Volesky scored twice for the Switchbacks in the second half on Wednesday against the Bold after a formation tweak that saw him lead the line for the Switchbacks as the out-and-out striker.  “It’s always good to get some goals, but it was more important to get the result,” said the Henderson, Nevada native.  “We wanted to win, but for me to get going is a confidence booster.  For Saturday, we need to get our legs back, and get ourselves back mentally.  We spent a lot of energy mentally getting back into the game last night, but we know it’s do or die.  We have a home game and it’s our responsibility to get three points on Saturday no matter what the challenge is that’s thrown our way.”

South African winger Lebese sealed the comeback for the Switchbacks in the 84th minute against Austin Bold with a stunning strike.  Said the young man from Mamelodi, in Gauteng province, South Africa, “Personally I feel good – I think I’m just starting to get a little more confidence.  There’s a lot that I feel like I still need to offer to the team, but I feel good going into the New Mexico game.  That’s going to be tough.  New Mexico play really good football, they’re top of the group, and we’re going to have to be much better than what we showed in the first half last night.  We need to focus a little more about ourselves today and tomorrow and try to build from the second half performance that we showed.  We give them respect because New Mexico play good football – they’re not on top by chance.  New Mexico play pretty football, they score good goals…but it’s really about us this week.  We have to go out there on the day, give it a good fight, take the second half performance into that game, and if we can do that I think we can really do well.” 

New Mexico United have not played since recording a 2-1 win over the Real Monarchs in Sandy, Utah on Saturday evening behind goals from Amando Moreno and Chris Wehan.   It was New Mexico United’s second straight victory over the defending USL Championship winners, having won 2-0 against the Monarchs on Wednesday, August 19th in Utah.

Chris Wehan scored the winner against the Switchbacks on July 11th at Weidner Field as New Mexico United sealed a 2-1 victory.  Wehan again played the role of match winner on August 15th, with his lone goal leading New Mexico to a 1-0 victory at Weidner Field.  Former Switchbacks captain Josh Suggs could make history for New Mexico United on Saturday, as the Las Cruces native is poised to move into second-place on the USL Championship’s list of all-time regular season minutes played.  

“This is going to be tough,” said Head Coach Koch.  “We talk about the group of death but we’ve also got a very taxing schedule.  To go play with the energy we played with for 90 minutes against El Paso and have to really dig deep in the second half against Austin; it takes a lot out of your group.  We’re fortunate to be playing games and we’re going to have to recover as quickly as possible.  We’re going to need even more than effort this week because New Mexico are arguably one of, if not the best team in the league so far this year.  We’ve played them twice and we know what a tough challenge it’s going to be and we’re looking forward to embracing it.  We’ve spoken a lot as a group after the game last night, and now it’s just about getting ourselves going for the game on Saturday.”

The Switchbacks will again be at Weidner Field on Wednesday night as they host the El Paso Locomotive.  

“This is going to be tough,” said Head Coach Koch.  “We talk about the group of death but we’ve also got a very taxing schedule.  To go play with the energy we played with for 90 minutes against El Paso and have to really dig deep in the second half against Austin; it takes a lot out of your group.  We’re fortunate to be playing games and we’re going to have to recover as quickly as possible.  We’re going to need even more than effort this week because New Mexico are arguably one of, if not the best team in the league so far this year.  We’ve played them twice and we know what a tough challenge it’s going to be and we’re looking forward to embracing it.  We’ve spoken a lot as a group after the game last night, and now it’s just about getting ourselves going for the game on Saturday.”

The Switchbacks will again be at Weidner Field on Wednesday night as they host the El Paso Locomotive.  

Midweek madness awaits at Weidner Field as the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC welcome the Austin Bold to Southern Colorado on Wednesday night in a match presented by the Better Business Bureau and Accelerated Wealth.  It will be the only meeting of the 2020 campaign between the Switchbacks and Bold, with Wednesday’s opponents being realigned into separate groups following the suspension of the season due to the global coronavirus crisis.  

Abraham Rodriguez kept his first professional clean sheet on Saturday night as the Switchbacks battled out a goalless draw against visiting El Paso Locomotive at Weidner Field.  Said Rodriguez on Monday, “First I give all the honor and glory to God! The clean sheet meant a lot to me.  I had my family there watching and that entire week our mentality was to keep them from scoring – that was our goal.  We’re going to need the whole group to keep working together on Wednesday, as we did against El Paso.  We had some chances this last game and on Wednesday we’ll have more chances and we’re going to have to take them.  For us the mental part is big with all these games happening so fast, but I think we’re ready and we took a big step on Saturday, and the goal on Wednesday is to get three points.  Communication is key for us defensively.  As a group, we had a clean sheet this last game and communication and mentality is big for us.  Having that strong mentality where we’re just not going to give up goals is key.”  

Midweek madness awaits at Weidner Field as the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC welcome the Austin Bold to Southern Colorado on Wednesday night in a match presented by the Better Business Bureau and Accelerated Wealth.  It will be the only meeting of the 2020 campaign between the Switchbacks and Bold, with Wednesday’s opponents being realigned into separate groups following the suspension of the season due to the global coronavirus crisis.  

Abraham Rodriguez kept his first professional clean sheet on Saturday night as the Switchbacks battled out a goalless draw against visiting El Paso Locomotive at Weidner Field.  Said Rodriguez on Monday, “First I give all the honor and glory to God! The clean sheet meant a lot to me.  I had my family there watching and that entire week our mentality was to keep them from scoring – that was our goal.  We’re going to need the whole group to keep working together on Wednesday, as we did against El Paso.  We had some chances this last game and on Wednesday we’ll have more chances and we’re going to have to take them.  For us the mental part is big with all these games happening so fast, but I think we’re ready and we took a big step on Saturday, and the goal on Wednesday is to get three points.  Communication is key for us defensively.  As a group, we had a clean sheet this last game and communication and mentality is big for us.  Having that strong mentality where we’re just not going to give up goals is key.”  

“We were conceding a lot of goals in our other games, and getting the clean sheet helped us grow a lot and have a lot of confidence for the next games,” said Andorran left back Joan Cervós.  “It means a lot for us.  We are doing things well and the goals will arrive –  we keep another clean sheet and the goals will happen for us.  I think the team is prepared for all these games in just a few days – we are prepared mentally and also physically.  On Wednesday, we have to focus on us and do the same job that we did in the last game, with a lot of intensity from everybody and a lot of great work in defense, and then try to score.” 

“I think the two things we really identified to strive for were putting in a 90-plus minute performance together and getting a clean sheet,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Alan Koch on Monday afternoon.  “We got the clean sheet so we’ve made progress there, now we just need to make sure we put the 90-plus minute performance together.  We were pretty close to it this last week, but one or two little details – maybe not capitalizing on a chance here or there, but we’re edging in the right direction.”

Wednesday’s trip to Colorado Springs will be the fourth straight road game for the Austin Bold.  Head Coach Marcelo Serrano’s club won a wild match 3-2 over the Rio Grande Valley FC Toros at H-E-B Park on Saturday night behind a brace from Ates Diouf. Diouf was named a starter on the USL Championship Team of the Week on Tuesday Morning.  Turks and Caicos international Billy Forbes had opened the scoring for the Bold with a crisp left-footed strike, before Senegalese striker Diouf decided the match.  Diouf and Forbes are tied atop Austin Bold’s goal-scoring charts with three goals each.  

Austin are unbeaten in their last four matches in the USL Championship, and have not been held scoreless in 2020.  Behind the aforementioned output of Diouf and Forbes, the Bold have scored ten goals in their last four matches, with former Switchbacks fullback Ish Jome finding the net twice in a 4-1 win over RGV FC on August 8th.  

“We were conceding a lot of goals in our other games, and getting the clean sheet helped us grow a lot and have a lot of confidence for the next games,” said Andorran left back Joan Cervós.  “It means a lot for us.  We are doing things well and the goals will arrive –  we keep another clean sheet and the goals will happen for us.  I think the team is prepared for all these games in just a few days – we are prepared mentally and also physically.  On Wednesday, we have to focus on us and do the same job that we did in the last game, with a lot of intensity from everybody and a lot of great work in defense, and then try to score.” 

“I think the two things we really identified to strive for were putting in a 90-plus minute performance together and getting a clean sheet,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Alan Koch on Monday afternoon.  “We got the clean sheet so we’ve made progress there, now we just need to make sure we put the 90-plus minute performance together.  We were pretty close to it this last week, but one or two little details – maybe not capitalizing on a chance here or there, but we’re edging in the right direction.”

Wednesday’s trip to Colorado Springs will be the fourth straight road game for the Austin Bold.  Head Coach Marcelo Serrano’s club won a wild match 3-2 over the Rio Grande Valley FC Toros at H-E-B Park on Saturday night behind a brace from Ates Diouf. Diouf was named a starter on the USL Championship Team of the Week on Tuesday Morning.  Turks and Caicos international Billy Forbes had opened the scoring for the Bold with a crisp left-footed strike, before Senegalese striker Diouf decided the match.  Diouf and Forbes are tied atop Austin Bold’s goal-scoring charts with three goals each.  

Austin are unbeaten in their last four matches in the USL Championship, and have not been held scoreless in 2020.  Behind the aforementioned output of Diouf and Forbes, the Bold have scored ten goals in their last four matches, with former Switchbacks fullback Ish Jome finding the net twice in a 4-1 win over RGV FC on August 8th.  

“I think we need to do the same sort of thing we did this last Saturday,” said Head Coach Koch when asked about limiting Austin Bold’s offensive opportunities.  “We prevented El Paso from scoring, and they had scored a lot against us the previous time.  If we can stay true to what we did on Saturday, hopefully we can nullify chances for Austin.  They are a creative team and do take their chances, so we want to limit the opportunities that we give them.  But we also want to get back to what we were doing initially where we were scoring a lot of goals and we need to make sure that we can continue to do that: so just doing a little bit more of what we did on Saturday defensively, and then get back to what we were doing attack-wise when we started the season back up again.  None of these games are easy but we need to just keep edging forward.”  

The Switchbacks will continue their rapid-fire home stand on Saturday evening as they welcome New Mexico United to Weidner Field.  “We’re just going to go game-by-game and really just assess with the medical group every day to see where people are,” said Koch.  “I have ideas and I’m always working games ahead, and training days ahead, so nothing changes from our perspective.  We just have to go one day at a time and see where the guys are, regroup, get a medical report, and start planning for the next challenge.”

“I think we need to do the same sort of thing we did this last Saturday,” said Head Coach Koch when asked about limiting Austin Bold’s offensive opportunities.  “We prevented El Paso from scoring, and they had scored a lot against us the previous time.  If we can stay true to what we did on Saturday, hopefully we can nullify chances for Austin.  They are a creative team and do take their chances, so we want to limit the opportunities that we give them.  But we also want to get back to what we were doing initially where we were scoring a lot of goals and we need to make sure that we can continue to do that: so just doing a little bit more of what we did on Saturday defensively, and then get back to what we were doing attack-wise when we started the season back up again.  None of these games are easy but we need to just keep edging forward.”  

The Switchbacks will continue their rapid-fire home stand on Saturday evening as they welcome New Mexico United to Weidner Field.  “We’re just going to go game-by-game and really just assess with the medical group every day to see where people are,” said Koch.  “I have ideas and I’m always working games ahead, and training days ahead, so nothing changes from our perspective.  We just have to go one day at a time and see where the guys are, regroup, get a medical report, and start planning for the next challenge.”