After historic back-to-back playoff wins at Weidner Field, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC head to the Alamo City for a USL Championship Western Conference Final showdown with San Antonio FC on Sunday evening. The match will kick off at 6:30pm MT from Toyota Field, with live coverage by the voice of the Switchbacks, Ryan Kaufman, beginning at 6pm on XTRA Sports1300 AM.
Led by Head Coach Alen Marcina, San Antonio FC host Sunday’s match courtesy of winning the Western Conference by a staggering 17 points. The Switchbacks defeated the Rio Grande Valley FC Toros 3-0 on October 22nd at Weidner Field in the Conference Quarterfinals, before vanquishing Sacramento Republic 2-1 in downtown Colorado Springs last Saturday behind a breathtaking brace from Michee Ngalina.
What the Switchbacks Say About San Antonio:
Midfielder Cam Lindley, who played last season for San Antonio FC and on Tuesday was named to the All-League Second Team: “They’re difficult. I know their values [and] I know what they’re all about having been there last year. It’s going to be a fight so you have to be ready to fight and hopefully our quality will take over and we can win the game down there. There’s so much quality [in San Antonio’s] team – it’s crazy. And they defend for their lives; every single one of them, no matter if it’s a forward or their goalkeeper. They pose a huge [and] tough test, so we’re going to have to go out there and play 100% in every aspect if we want to get a result.
“It’s going to be fantastic [to have Switchbacks fans at Toyota Field]. It will be nice to look over and see them – they’ve done so much for us all year and it will be awesome to see them. I’ve got some family going down as well so it’s a big one and we’re pretty excited.”
Switchbacks Head Coach and General Manager Brendan Burke: “[San Antonio] have been the best team all year [and] there’s no question about that. They have a very clearly defined playing style and they’re really good at it – they’re super effective [and] tight defensively. There’s really no holes in their game. It’s a totally different brand of soccer so it poses a different territorial task in terms of duels [and] in terms of the spaces they’re going to ask us to play in, so we have to adjust accordingly or suffer the same result.
“Our performances over the last two weeks are what’s fueling us right now. [We have the] belief that we can go in anywhere and get a result, but this is a [San Antonio] team that’s quite frankly dominated us over the last two years. We can’t wait to get down there – we’re looking forward to it. It was great down in New Mexico to have that many [fans there] with us – it was a welcome surprise and relief.”
Michee Ngalina, who was named as a finalist for the 2022 USL Championship Young Player of the Year on Wednesday: “Playing San Antonio is a big test. They’re strong physically [but] we’re preparing well. Our mind[set] is to go there and win and we’re ready for [Sunday].”
Vargish’s View: No pressure rests on the shoulders of the Switchbacks heading into Sunday’s match in south-central Texas. San Antonio ran away with the Western Conference this season, and the Switchbacks’ chances were written off by national pundits before the thundering victory over Rio Grande Valley that began their playoff journey.
On Sunday San Antonio will look to hurry and discombobulate the Switchbacks with their rambunctious physical style. Limiting set piece opportunities for the hosts is so obvious that it almost fails to be worthy of mention. The Switchbacks are perfectly set up, experienced, and adept at absorbing pressure and counter attacking with a speed and ferocity that can hurt any opponent. San Antonio will be confident in front of their home fans and from the fact they’ve already defeated the Switchbacks twice in 2022 – both 1-0 wins. But influential Brazilian captain PC remains a huge loss for the hosts having gone down early in San Antonio’s win against the Oakland Roots on October 28th, and the Switchbacks are as confident and dangerous as they’ve been at any point this season.
