Colorado Springs, CO (March 16, 2024) – The Colorado Springs Switchbacks played their first 2024 regular season match at Weidner Field but fell short with a final score of 1-2.
Former Switchbacks, now Detroit FC player, Elvis Amoh Takyi, scored the first goal of the night for Detroit in the 11′. Battling through the cold, the boys kept applying the pressure throughout the first half by creating five shots and carrying 54.6% possession.
Going into the second half, the Switchbacks brought the heat with a goal in the 47′. Switchbacks captain, #5 Matt Mahoney tipped the ball right over the line thanks to a clean pass from #99 Maalique Foster.
In the 60′, Koa Santos receives a second yellow card of the night, resulting in a red card. With the Switchbacks playing down to 10 men, they knew it would be a tough battle to win. Unfortunately in the 89′, #11 Connor Rutz scored a goal for Detroit City FC, leaving the final score of 1-2.
With a full season ahead of them the Switchbacks head to San Antonio next Saturday and then will be back at Weidner Field on April 6th against Sacramento For tickets to that match, and all others, head HERE.
Post Match Quotes:
Head Coach Chambers:
Overall thoughts:
“Really disappointed to lose the game. I think defending so well with 10 players and obviously conceding so late in the game, we withstood a lot of pressure and there was a lot of good defending, but in the key moment, we didn’t do enough.”
On creating chances with 10 men:
“Yeah, I wouldn’t question anything about the players. Certainly not. I thought the effort of the squad was there. The first half wasn’t our best performance but we still had chances. The momentum we had from the 60th minute, from half going to the 60th minute, changed it a little bit because of the sending-off. We weathered the storm and we had a couple of moments in transition that we had to punish them.”
On the Switchbacks community and the volunteers who helped clean the field:
“We mentioned it before the game about people taking time off work yesterday, this is obviously the first home game of the season, so we were really really happy, and just very proud they wanted to come out and help us yesterday removing the snow. It was unbelievable. We wanted to produce something for them tonight. I think for the fans it was an entertaining game but they didn’t get the result, nor did we. So we’re really disappointed with that, but we can’t thank them enough for the effort they put in.”
On the difference between the first and second half:
“We didn’t have enough penetration about us or energy about us. In the first half, we had the ball but we never looked like we were gonna cause any trouble. Obviously, second half, the game opens up and gives us a little more space to run into. But we gotta be better when there’s less space, we gotta create more chances and do more to score goals.”
Matt Mahoney:
On scoring the first goal for the Switchbacks :
“It felt good to fight back. The first half was a bit stale in terms of our chances, so it felt good to get on the board. It was my fault at the end there my clearance to Delentz [Pierre], I should have done better. But thankfully it’s only the second game so we have many more games to go.”
On the volunteers who helped clear the stadium of snow yesterday:
“We really appreciate them! There were tons of fans out here cleaning up the field so we could train as well as have the stands cleared. We see it now, but our fanbase is amazing and we hope they keep coming out.”
Quenzi Huerman
On making his official Weidner Field debut:
“It was very disappointing with the result, but we are happy with the fans and atmosphere here. It’s great to be here in front of the fans and sad we weren’t able to get the three points for them.”
On the resilience to stay fighting in the match:
“In the first half, we got away from our identity. We didn’t stick to what we did as a team. So when I came in for the second half I was in the mindset to change the game. I think we did it to a certain extent, but with the resilience, we had to go to the full 90′, and unfortunately that was not the case tonight.”
