Opponent: San Antonio FC
Match Date: October 12
Location: Weidner Field
Doors Open: 5pm MT. Limited tickets remain available HERE! for the final regular season game at Weidner Field in 2024! The first 5,000 patrons through the gates will receive Switchbacks fan paddles, courtesy of Creative Consortium! Fans are encouraged to wear black for Fan Appreciation Night!
How to Listen: XTRA Sports 1300 app and xtrasports1300.com with the Voices of the Switchbacks, Ryan Kaufman and Roland Vargish. Coverage starts at 5:30pm MT.
Chambo’s Comments: “We didn’t start the game [a 2-0 loss to Orange County SC on Wednesday night in Irvine, California] as well as we should have and as we would have liked. We were a little bit slow to get going and [we] got punished. That being said, I thought the response from the players was absolutely terrific. I thought in the second half we were by far the better team with 10 players and I’m really proud of the boys [for] the effort they put forward and probably, on another night, we could have got out of there with a draw, but that wasn’t to be. “The personnel that we have available are the personnel, but there are boys in the background that have been chomping at the bit [and] training for the whole season trying to get these
opportunities to play minutes and they’ll get them. [We are] a little bit light [in terms of squad numbers due to international call-ups] but that’s part of soccer [and] it’s part of the season. We don’t make any excuses – we just move forward. “[San Antonio have been] stop-start [this season] but I think over the last couple of weeks – this week in particular – with the Sacramento result and El Paso they’ve turned the corner. They’ve gone back to what they’re good at and to what’s made them successful, so they’ll be a threat. Whatever they do, we’ve got to make sure that we’re worried [and focused on] ourselves. “We are excited to be back [at Weidner Field for the final regular season home game of 2024] – we’re really looking forward to it! I think we were really disappointed [with] how the last home game went and how we feel like we let people down. And to be completely honest, we’ve got to
make sure we pay them back and give them what they come for. That’s what we’re really focused on. We need [the crowd]. We’ve needed them for the last 16 games. The boys are really behind them [and] the fans are really behind the boys, so it’s important that everybody comes out and blows the roof off this place!”
Vargish’s View: Earlier this season, San Antonio attempted to be an open, offensive, and frankly more pleasing team to watch. But a leopard can’t change its spots. SAFC are now back to what they’ve always been; tough, physical, in-your-face, and extremely difficult to beat – at home or on the road. San Antonio’s 2-0 win over the Switchbacks on March 23 rd at Toyota Field occurred so long ago that it barely warrants mention, let alone tactical dissection – Scottie Scheffler had just won the Players Championship, and the 2024 Olympics were still four months away. The Switchbacks’ last three results have been frustrating – two draws and a loss in Orange County on Wednesday evening – but their home form throughout 2024 has been imperious. Ten home wins is fourth-most in the entire USL Championship, and the Switchbacks are desperate to send their faithful fans home happy after their final regular season home game. The key to defeating San Antonio? Same as always. Fall for SAFC’s physical, scrappy, and choppy play which often explores the darkest arts of North American soccer, and San Antonio can (and will) grind out a result, even at Weidner Field. Keep the ball in play and resist the [frequent] temptations to retaliate, and the Switchbacks’ style will lead to another memorable Weidner Field Saturday night.
