With the 2023 USL Championship Playoffs on the horizon, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks head to Sin City for a Saturday night showdown against the Las Vegas Lights. The Switchbacks’ place in the Playoffs was secured on Thursday evening with two regular season games remaining. Following Saturday’s match in Vegas, the Switchbacks will wrap up the regular season at Weidner Field on October 14th against Phoenix Rising, with tickets remaining available HERE.
What the Switchbacks Say:
Head Coach Stephen Hogan: “We’ve been studying and training quite a bit in terms of who [our starting] 11 is going to be [in Vegas]. It’s [about] the intensity that we have to bring to a very structurally annoying team [in Las Vegas Lights] as they’re known around the league. Yeah Vegas is bottom of the league, but even against Sacramento they were very disruptive in their press – it was very clever – so we have to be careful of that. Those guys [on Vegas] are individually playing for contracts elsewhere over there, so it’s not three points in the bag yet – we have to go and do a job and that’s all we’re thinking about.
“The weak of prep is a massive bonus obviously you’re taking seven from nine points last week which is a huge positive. Obviously, the RGV [game] was a big frustration, but the positive is that we are still five [matches] unbeaten you know in the last five [games] and now can we go and get 3 points and really, really hammer this home. [Their] front three and their full backs are really aggressive getting high but that press is very, very smart, so we have to be careful of how we are building, especially at the beginning of the game.”
Switchbacks captain Matt Mahoney:
“Everyone is gelling and we’re playing well and hopefully we’ll be able to carry that into Vegas this weekend. [I expect] a battle [on Saturday]. Every game now is a playoff game and we know [Vegas] have some talented players and obviously it may not have come to fruition this year in terms of results. We play on a tough baseball field when we go there – it’s going to be a tough match. We have to go there and keep the same mindset that we have and work hard and the rest will take care of itself.”
Look at Las Vegas:
With a record of just 3-19-10, the Lights were the first team eliminated from playoff contention in the USL Championship’s Western Conference. The Switchbacks defeated the Lights 2-0 at Weidner Field in downtown Colorado Springs on June 17th behind goals from the Jamaican duo of Romario Williams and Maalique Foster.
“I think it’s [going to be] a tough tactical game,” said Head Coach Hogan. ‘I like what they try and do even though they’re out [of the playoffs], their energy on the sideline [and] their energy in the field for the most part it’s fantastic. So the idea is that we have to match that. It’s very cliche but it’s actually very true; we have to go and match the energy, and then our ball speed needs to be through the roof to really create chances.”
Vargish’s View:
The Switchbacks have compiled another terrific regular season, culminating in clinching their third consecutive berth in the USL Championship Playoffs. The Lights have had a mightily difficult campaign, with 19 losses by far the most in the Western Conference. On paper, Saturday’s match greatly favors the Switchbacks. Cashman Field presents its own unique environment – both in the stands and on the [baseball specific] field – but if the Switchbacks play with their trademark intensity, another three points is assured.
