Opponent: North Carolina FC
Match Date: August 10
Location: WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina
Kickoff: 5:30pm MT
How to Listen: XTRA Sports 1300am with the Voices of the Switchbacks, Ryan Kaufman and Roland Vargish – coverage starts at 5pm MT.
McCann’s Musings: “[We are] looking forward to [the trip to North Carolina],” said Switchbacks Technical Director Alan McCann. “[North Carolina FC are] good. They’re a stingy group defensively. They don’t give up a lot – especially in open play, and [on] set pieces they’re very,
very good. They’re very sturdy, and when they’re allowed to sit in to a low block or a compact block they’re really, really hard to break down – so we have to figure that side of it out. And the big thing is [that] we have to change our away form – that’s our main focus this week. “You’ve got to limit [North Carolina FC striker Evan Conway] on the ball versus [Oalex] Anderson. Anderson is big in space [and] he’s big in transition, but Evan is going to come to the game – he’s going to come off [the ball and] he’s going to try to get on [the ball]. So we have to be smart in that, and I think they both possess two different threats, so we have to be ready for both. But yeah, [Conway is] an accomplished player in this league, but we’ve come up against plenty of them before and we’ve been able to figure it out, so it’s our job to figure another one out. “I think if you watch our last previous game where we’re one-nil up and the subs have come on and [then] we’ve kept the ball for two and a half minutes – I think that’s a big part of [being successful]. Game management [is key], whether we are up [a goal] or we are down. We know that [North Carolina FC] concede late goals, so [we must believe] that if we haven’t knocked the door down in the first half or in the first hour, something can still be there [for us]. But if we’re
leading, it’s [about] game management – it’s [about] looking like a champion, realistically. [In the] second half [of the 2-0 win over Phoenix Rising last Saturday at Weidner Field in downtown Colorado Springs] we really looked [good]. [And] although we gave up some chances, we really
looked [like we were managing the game] against Phoenix, so more of that [is needed in North Carolina].”
Vargish’s View: The Switchbacks have not won away from Southern Colorado since a 2-0 victory over Hartford Athletic on May 11 th . They must improve their away form as they continue to ensconce themselves in the heart of the playoff positions in the USL Championship’s Western Conference. North Carolina have struggled at times in 2024 but remain locked in a battle for the 8 th and final playoff spot in the East. Saturday evening’s match in the City of Oaks promises to be cagey and tense, with North Carolina relying on a miserly defense that’s conceded just five
goals since the end of June. The Switchbacks were at their free-flowing best against Phoenix Rising, and a confident and attacking display is required against North Carolina.
