Just two regular season matches remain as the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC make their way to Far West Texas for a showdown against El Paso Locomotive on Wednesday evening. The match will kick off at 7pm MT from Southwest University Park, with live coverage by the voice of the Switchbacks, Ryan Kaufman, beginning at 6:30pm on XTRA Sports1300 AM.
The Switchbacks have not played since a 1-1 draw against the Oakland Roots on September 4th. Matt Mahoney was named to the USL Championship Team of the Week after his performance at Weidner Field, while Christian Herrera earned the Save of the Week after a stunning stop against the Roots. Elvis Amoh will miss Wednesday’s match in El Paso after being sent off against Oakland.
What the Switchbacks Say:
Switchbacks Head Coach and General Manager Brendan Burke: “[Matt Mahoney] has been just rock solid for the most part. I would say the whole team had a little dip in form in the middle of the summer, but in all our best moments Matt’s been part of the core of the team – and that’s been part of the reason that he’s been the captain recently. There are a few guys that I think have the potential [to be the Switchbacks’ captain] and Matt is certainly in that small group.
“[Elvis Amoh] is one of the leading goal scorers in the league and he maybe doesn’t get the headlines for us all the time, but he’s done really important work for us on both sides of the ball. There are a number of guys that have the potential to contribute [on Wednesday in Elvis’s absence]. Getting [Zach] Zandi back in the team – even if it’s only for 15 or 20 minutes – is important. He can open a team up on the ball playing in between the lines – that’s an element I think we’ve missed over the last number of weeks. And getting Jairo [Henríquez] back into the group will be important too, so I think you will definitely see a lot more of those two guys.
“I’ve never been part of a team with so many long-term injuries. The most important thing for us now that we’ve secured a second playoff berth in a row is to try to push over that home playoff line and try to take another huge step forward as a franchise. But in order to do that we need enough healthy bodies in key positions and these two 10-day breaks give us the opportunity to hopefully get there.”
Matt Mahoney: “Every game now is going to be like a playoff game and that starts with El Paso on Wednesday as we’re still fighting to host a home playoff game. Going to El Paso it’s not as big of a field [as in Colorado Springs] with them playing on a baseball field, and they’re fighting for a playoff spot so it’s going to be like a playoff match. If we bring the intensity and our A-game, hopefully we’ll be able to get the win. It would be fantastic [to have a home playoff game at Weidner Field] just for the city of Colorado Springs – they deserve it. Our fans have showed up every game this year when we’ve been home and so it would be fantastic and it’s a great home field advantage for us. But at the end of the day, it’s fantastic that we clinched already and that we’re in the playoffs – that’s the most important – but obviously a home playoff game would make it even better.”
Look at the Locomotive:
The Switchbacks and Locomotive finished tied 4-4 at Weidner Field on August 12th after a wild game that the Switchbacks led 3-0 after just nine minutes. Striker Luis Solignac continues to top the Locomotive’s goal scoring charts, with the Argentine hitman entering Wednesday’s match with 14 league goals in 2022.
“[El Paso] are a very good ball-playing team, so they present you with some opportunities to press them and I thought we did that well in the first half of the game against them at home,” said Brendan Burke. “And then we got away from what we were doing well as that game went on and they opened us up and obviously got right back into it,” continued Burke. “It’s a tough place to play, but it’s not a place [where] we can’t get a result.”
Vargish’s View:
Wednesday’s match will have the intensity of a postseason match, with the Switchbacks looking to clinch a priceless home playoff game at Weidner Field and the Locomotive locked in a dogfight for their own place in the USL Championship Playoffs. El Paso will be buoyed from defeating the Switchbacks 1-0 on July 9th at Southwest University Park behind an 18th minute goal from Aarón Gómez, although the wild 4-4 draw in August is probably a more apposite barometer for how Wednesday’s match will unfold. El Paso like to possess, the Switchbacks love to counter, and both teams are desperate for a win: this has all the makings of another classic goal-fest as the playoffs loom.
