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.
