Fresh from vanquishing Charleston from the ranks of the unbeaten, the Switchbacks return to downtown Colorado Springs for a Cinco de Mayo matchup against the El Paso Locomotive. Diversus Health will be sponsoring a bucket hat giveaway when gates open at 6pm, with tickets remaining available HERE.
The Switchbacks opened the 2023 season by defeating El Paso 2-1 on March 15th at Southwest University Park in Far West Texas behind a 2nd minute opener from Jairo Henriquez and a stoppage-time winner courtesy of Duke Lacroix.
What the Switchbacks Say:
Jamaican striker Maalique Foster: “It was a good win [in Charleston]. We were talking about going on the road and getting three points so we did exactly what the coaches wanted us to do – it was a great win for us. It’s great [to have the support of the coaching staff], it’s just now for me I have to keep my composure and go out there and show my talent and just help the team as much as I can. We just have to play our game [vs. El Paso] and go for the win. The fans [at Weidner Field] are our 12th man behind us and that’s great!”
Head Coach Stephen Hogan: “[We looked at Maalique before we signed him] as an out-and-out number 9 with the versatility to play out wide. The way we try and work is can we get someone with two positions – but their strongest position is why we’re getting them. And for me and for us Maalique is a 9 – that’s where his mind is – but like Romario [Williams] he’s a team player. And like Romario he can play that [number] 10 because of his ability and his time with the [Jamaican] national team as a 10. Maalique can play out wide because he’s done it in the past with previous teams. But the strong position [for Maalique] is why we recruited him.”
Last Saturday, the Switchbacks beat the Charleston Battery 2-1 in the Palmetto State courtesy of a 4th minute goal from Foster and a thunderbolt from Stevie Echevarria. Upon returning to Colorado Springs, the Switchbacks announced the signing of Jamaican international Tyreek Magee. Duke Lacroix was named to the USL Championship Team of the Week following the win in Charleston.
“Fantastic win [in Charleston],” said Head Coach Hogan. “We started off the game very fast again and we definitely deserved that goal. We discussed positioning in certain times of the game and high up the field, and it actually came out in training and it was good to see the post [game] film because [what we worked on] came out in the game.
“We had an eye on two or three [number] 10s anyway [before the season-ending injury to Zach Zandi]. And Tyreek came available to us within a few weeks of when Zandi unfortunately went down, so it [then] made sort of proper sense. He’s been playing in one of the top divisions in Europe – in Belgium. He’s a good young player who hasn’t broke out yet and I’m excited to see him. There’s a real core [to our team] there [in midfield] – Jay [Champan] is coming back, Steve [Echevarria] is in form, Speedy [Williams], Drew [Skundrich], now Tyreek and Jairo [Henríquez]. So it’s competition time for those guys, but the understanding is that we have three real [number] 10s if you think about it because Jay’s versatility position is a 10, and I could see him playing deeper too. Tyreek is fantastic and I can’t wait to see him play.”
Look at the Locomotive:
“[El Paso] are great right now,” said Head Coach Hogan. Entering Friday’s match the Locomotive have won three in a row and are unbeaten since March 18th. “[El Paso Head Coach] Brian [Clarhaut] made a few changes – one or two system changes similar to us – so we’ll see what happens in terms of that. I think it’s going to be a completely different game because the two teams are completely different now. But the guys are home [and] they’re hungry. We’ve been using the word momentum, and we don’t want any hiccups, especially at home. El Paso are a very very tough opponent. They’re very good on the ball like normal even though there’s a system change. They’re a little bit more transitional so I have been enjoying seeing that from them. But the understanding is that we can hit them on the other side of that if they think they can hit us quickly at home. It’s going to be a very tactical game I think.”
Vargish’s View:
The Switchbacks aren’t messing around. To go into Charleston against a Battery team that hasn’t lost in 2023, come out with three points, and then return to Southern Colorado and announce the signing of Tyreek Magee shows what the organization is all about.
Defeating the Locomotive on March 15th will undoubtedly give the Switchbacks confidence, but make no mistake: this is a different El Paso team. Veteran Argentine striker Luis Solignac is doing what Luis Solignac does: scoring goals. Club captain Yuma remains the calming veteran leader to his team while simultaneously managing to be the arch-irritant to opponents.
This is a Locomotive team that’s rounding into superb form and will be looking to build on a highly impressive 2-1 victory in San Diego last weekend. On Friday the Switchbacks have to use their blistering transition play to keep El Paso honest and limit El Paso’s ability to find Solignac, Ricardo Zacarías, and Denys Kostyshyn in advantageous positions.