For the first time ever, the Tampa Bay Rowdies visit Weidner Field in downtown Colorado Springs to face the Switchbacks on Soccer for All Night. Gates open at 6pm on Saturday and tickets are available HERE.
The Rowdies arrive in Colorado Springs having not played since a 1-0 loss to Louisville City FC last Saturday night at Lynn Family Stadium in the Derby City. That match marked only the fourth loss of the season for Tampa Bay, who currently sit in 3rd place in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference.
On Wednesday evening the Switchbacks fell 3-0 to Sacramento Republic at Heart Health Park in California’s capitol city. The Switchbacks remain in 3rd place in the Western Conference, with Saturday’s match against Tampa Bay being the first of four consecutive games at Weidner Field.
Mahoney’s Musings: “We obviously know how good [Tampa Bay] are and how good they’ve been for years now,” said defender Matt Mahoney. “I remember playing them in the [Eastern Conference] back in 2017 and 2018 and they were one of the top teams. We know they’re going to want to play and they’ve got experienced and talented players all across the field, so we’re going to really need our A-game. A weakness of ours has been conceding goals recently in the past month or so, but we know what we can do in our attack, so if we’re able to keep a clean sheet or limit [Tampa Bay] to one goal, then we’ll get our chances and hopefully be able to win the game.
“It’s going to be great [to play at Weidner Field]. We’re home now for the next month – and against some good, top sides – so it’s going to be a good opportunity for us to gain some momentum.”
Tale of Tampa: Head Coach Neill Collins has assembled a deep and talented roster in the Sunshine State, led on the goal-scoring charts by Brazilian Leo Fernandes. Fernandes, from the biggest city in both the Western and Southern Hemispheres, São Paulo, has already scored 12 goals in the league during 2022. Jake LaCava, who is on loan to the Rowdies from Major League Soccer’s New York Red Bulls, has scored 10 times this season.
Former Georgia State University Panther CJ Cochran is Tampa’s undisputed number one goalkeeper after moving to the Rowdies on loan from the Oklahoma City Energy FC, and has a history of stymieing the Switchbacks from his time across the USL. Mexican defender Aarón Guillén is the lynchpin of the Rowdies’ defense alongside Conner Antley and Jamaican Jordan Scarlett.
The key in midfield for the Rowdies is Englishman Lewis Hilton, who starred collegiately with the Young Harris College Mountain Lions. Hilton’s work rate and recycling of possession next to compatriot Nicky Law and Denmark’s Sebastian Dalgaard is the foundation for the Rowdies’ success – that midfield trio puts in the hard yards that allows the aforementioned Leo Fernandes and Jake LaCava to punish opponents.
Vargish’s View: There are a multitude of reasons why the Rowdies are entrenched at the top of the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference. This is a powerful team with a roster full of experience from across the globe, and if that weren’t enough, the Rowdies have the benefit of an entire week of preparation, while the Switchbacks were tasked with playing in Sacramento late on Wednesday night.
The Switchbacks will need a Herculean performance on Saturday night at Weidner Field if they are to slow down one of the best teams in the league. Having said that, there is no discounting the advantage the Switchbacks will garner from playing at altitude in front of an enthusiastic and partisan crowd.
