Vargish’s View: Switchbacks Fight For Midweek Win Against Rio Grande Valley FC
Back-to-back wins at Weidner Field have the Switchbacks heading to border country full of confidence for a Wednesday night showdown with the Rio Grande Valley FC Toros in Edinburg, Texas. Last Saturday evening the Switchbacks defeated the Las Vegas Lights 2-0 in downtown Colorado Springs behind goals from Romario Williams and Maalique Foster.
Wednesday’s match in the Lone Star State is scheduled to begin at 6pm, with live coverage by the voice of the Switchbacks, Ryan Kaufman, beginning at 5:30pm on XTRA Sports1300AM. Temperatures for Wednesday’s clash in South Texas are forecast to be an impossible 107 degrees, with the stifling heat still projected to be in triple digits at kickoff.
What Head Coach Stephen Hogan Says:
“All the Irish guys are going to need some sunscreen, that’s for sure! We’ve talked about it and the guys all know [what the conditions will be like]. They’ve all played there before and coming into the summer it’s very, very hard [in Edinburg]. You’ve got to control the ball in certain moments, and again in transition we have to go forward and we have to exploit the space and go forward as quick as we can and get numbers in the box. If we do that and take our chances we’ll then control the ball so that’s very important, but we have to see how it goes.
“It was a hard-fought performance, and we came away with the win [against Las Vegas]. In transition we were great, and we expected to take chances in transition, and now we have. The most important thing for the entire squad to see from Juan [Tejada, the Switchbacks’ newest signing who made his debut against Las Vegas] was his hard running. He is lethal in the 18 and he will take chances and he will create moments for other people, but defensive actions, his pressing ideas, his pressing intensity will be shown in post [game] film. And it’s what I expected – it’s just great. He’s another addition and we’ve scouted him for three, four years now. He’s still a young guy and we hopefully have something we can unlock. And I think Jonas [Fjeldberg] has that too. He’s maybe not as fast or as intense at times, but his re-pressing down, his re-pressing home is very, very clever. He’ll nick balls and be able to play forward as quick as we can. I’m excited to see the two of them play.”
RGV Roundup:
The Toros enter Wednesday’s match with a record of 2-5-7 in 2023 USL Championship play and are winless at H-E-B Park. Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera’s club have not taken three points from a match since a 3-2 victory in Southern California against San Diego Loyal on May 13th. Cabrera’s son and namesake, Wilmer Cabrera Jr., leads RGVFC in goals with three.
“I think collectively [RGV] try to move the ball the right way,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Stephen Hogan. “[José] Torres from here a couple years ago – he’s very good on the ball, his left foot has range. [Wahab] Ackwei the center-back can really hurt you with line-breaking passes. And then all three or all four front guys are quite similar – they’re very nice and neat on the ball and they have range in their shooting, and they have clever movement. We have to break the lines around Juan [Cabezas] and [José] Torres and around a few others because if we do that, we’ll control the ball [and] we’ll take them out of the game. I really like Ackwei at center-back and what he does on the ball, and Torres is obviously getting up there in age, but he can still pick a pass. I’m excited to see us hopefully dominate in those areas.”
Vargish’s View:
The shutout wins over Orange County and Las Vegas showed just how lethal, incisive, defensively stout, and entertaining the Switchbacks can be. The fact that fans got a glimpse of debutant Juan Tejada – while fellow new signing Jonas Fjeldberg nears availability for his Switchbacks debut – only adds to the excitement as Stephen Hogan’s team look to navigate a brutal stretch of three matches in just eight days.
Conditions will play a part on Wednesday night – 107 degrees is not an acceptable temperature for a pool party, let alone a professional soccer match. Expect water breaks galore and for there to be lulls in tempo as both sets of players battle the energy-sapping heat. Possession is paramount in matches played in such testing temps. Constantly chasing the ball and organizing defensively will exhaust even the most seasoned professionals, so maintaining possession and dictating tempo in the middle of the field will be huge for the Switchbacks in Texas.
