Switchbacks News

It’s the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC.  It’s New Mexico United.  It’s on Saturday night, and it’s at Weidner Field.  

The Switchbacks will have just one day of preparation for the match against high-flying New Mexico United after arriving back in Colorado on Thursday following a mid-week matchup with the El Paso Locomotive in Far West Texas.  Saturday’s match will see New Mexico hosting proceedings at Weidner Field, with up to 1,000 fans making their way to Southern Colorado from the Land of Enchantment.  

“It’s obviously a very quick turnaround between going and playing at a top team in El Paso and now playing home – or away, whatever we’re going to call it – against New Mexico, so it’s not an easy week but this has not been an easy season,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Alan Koch.  “We’re going to embrace the challenge.  We want to see growth and we saw good things in the game in El Paso.  We just have to minimize some of the tough moments and try to create more opportunities up front – that’s got to be one of our focuses this weekend.”  

It’s the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC.  It’s New Mexico United.  It’s on Saturday night, and it’s at Weidner Field.  

The Switchbacks will have just one day of preparation for the match against high-flying New Mexico United after arriving back in Colorado on Thursday following a mid-week matchup with the El Paso Locomotive in Far West Texas.  Saturday’s match will see New Mexico hosting proceedings at Weidner Field, with up to 1,000 fans making their way to Southern Colorado from the Land of Enchantment.  

“It’s obviously a very quick turnaround between going and playing at a top team in El Paso and now playing home – or away, whatever we’re going to call it – against New Mexico, so it’s not an easy week but this has not been an easy season,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Alan Koch.  “We’re going to embrace the challenge.  We want to see growth and we saw good things in the game in El Paso.  We just have to minimize some of the tough moments and try to create more opportunities up front – that’s got to be one of our focuses this weekend.”  

“For us right now, everyone is hungry to get a win and keep progressing,” said Switchbacks veteran Jordan Burt on Thursday evening.  “We have a lot to play for personally and as a team.  We just want to keep pushing on.  We know New Mexico very well and I like the way we match up with them.  I look back at our games this season against New Mexico and we’ve always played well – now it’s just a matter of putting that all together and turning it into three points.  Saturday is going to be another physical game, so getting our legs back under us tomorrow is priority number one for the team right now.  As a defender getting a clean sheet is really important to me personally, but I think as a team we just need to play to win and have that body language and that energy where we’re the aggressor – when we do that we’re at our best.”

Mamadi Camara scored his first professional goal for the Switchbacks in Wednesday evening’s match against the El Paso Locomotive after a perfect cross from Luke Ferreira found Camara.   “The first professional goal is always one to remember,” said Switchbacks veteran Jordan Burt.  “I’m happy for him, especially to get the first one – that’s the hardest – and hopefully they can keep going in these next few games.”

“It was awesome for him [Camara] – and it was nice to see him and Luke [Ferreira] and Uvaldo [Luna] all come off the bench and make a difference,” said Head Coach Koch.  “They brought energy and creativity against El Paso and it’s always great to see players get rewarded for their efforts.”  

New Mexico United were well represented on the USL Championship Team of the Week after a 2-0 win in Utah on Saturday against the reigning champions, Real Monarch SLC.  Austin Yearwood and Amando Moreno were both recognized by the USL, with Moreno unlucky not to have garnered a starting position on the Team of the Week after scoring both of New Mexico United’s goals.

Moreno sits tied with Chris Wehan on top of New Mexico United’s goal-scoring chart with both players having scored 6 goals in 2020.  Wehan scored the winner for United on August 15th against the Switchbacks, while Moreno notched a penalty kick equalizer for the team from Albuquerque at Weidner Field on August 29th.  

“For us right now, everyone is hungry to get a win and keep progressing,” said Switchbacks veteran Jordan Burt on Thursday evening.  “We have a lot to play for personally and as a team.  We just want to keep pushing on.  We know New Mexico very well and I like the way we match up with them.  I look back at our games this season against New Mexico and we’ve always played well – now it’s just a matter of putting that all together and turning it into three points.  Saturday is going to be another physical game, so getting our legs back under us tomorrow is priority number one for the team right now.  As a defender getting a clean sheet is really important to me personally, but I think as a team we just need to play to win and have that body language and that energy where we’re the aggressor – when we do that we’re at our best.”

Mamadi Camara scored his first professional goal for the Switchbacks in Wednesday evening’s match against the El Paso Locomotive after a perfect cross from Luke Ferreira found Camara.   “The first professional goal is always one to remember,” said Switchbacks veteran Jordan Burt.  “I’m happy for him, especially to get the first one – that’s the hardest – and hopefully they can keep going in these next few games.”

“It was awesome for him [Camara] – and it was nice to see him and Luke [Ferreira] and Uvaldo [Luna] all come off the bench and make a difference,” said Head Coach Koch.  “They brought energy and creativity against El Paso and it’s always great to see players get rewarded for their efforts.”  

New Mexico United were well represented on the USL Championship Team of the Week after a 2-0 win in Utah on Saturday against the reigning champions, Real Monarch SLC.  Austin Yearwood and Amando Moreno were both recognized by the USL, with Moreno unlucky not to have garnered a starting position on the Team of the Week after scoring both of New Mexico United’s goals.

Moreno sits tied with Chris Wehan on top of New Mexico United’s goal-scoring chart with both players having scored 6 goals in 2020.  Wehan scored the winner for United on August 15th against the Switchbacks, while Moreno notched a penalty kick equalizer for the team from Albuquerque at Weidner Field on August 29th.  

“We’ve been put into this group with some very high quality teams so we have to be aware of our opponents on Saturday and what they have,” said Head Coach Alan Koch.  “But we’re trying to focus on ourselves and focus on our players and see our players develop throughout the course of the season and try to show some real growth as a team.  The biggest focus for us this year – right from the very beginning – has been our growth and development and we want to continue to see that as we move forward here through the last few games.”  

“Friday will be a lighter session for the guys who played a lot of minutes in El Paso,” added Koch on Thursday afternoon.  “There will be a regen to get their legs going again and we’ll do a little bit more with the guys who didn’t play to just get their legs sharp and ready to play in the game on Saturday.  There’s not much we can do in terms of adjusting our lineup or our squad because we had a small group to start off with, and now with the inability for any movement between the Rapids and ourselves, and having several players out injured, we have to maximize the group that we have at our disposal.  We’re trying to show growth and this is not an easy season by any means.”

The Switchbacks will be back at Weidner Field next Saturday to host the Real Monarchs SLC.  The final match of the 2020 USL Championship season in Colorado Springs will take place on Wednesday, September 30th as the Switchbacks welcome El Paso Locomotive to Weidner Field. 

“We’ve been put into this group with some very high quality teams so we have to be aware of our opponents on Saturday and what they have,” said Head Coach Alan Koch.  “But we’re trying to focus on ourselves and focus on our players and see our players develop throughout the course of the season and try to show some real growth as a team.  The biggest focus for us this year – right from the very beginning – has been our growth and development and we want to continue to see that as we move forward here through the last few games.”  

“Friday will be a lighter session for the guys who played a lot of minutes in El Paso,” added Koch on Thursday afternoon.  “There will be a regen to get their legs going again and we’ll do a little bit more with the guys who didn’t play to just get their legs sharp and ready to play in the game on Saturday.  There’s not much we can do in terms of adjusting our lineup or our squad because we had a small group to start off with, and now with the inability for any movement between the Rapids and ourselves, and having several players out injured, we have to maximize the group that we have at our disposal.  We’re trying to show growth and this is not an easy season by any means.”

The Switchbacks will be back at Weidner Field next Saturday to host the Real Monarchs SLC.  The final match of the 2020 USL Championship season in Colorado Springs will take place on Wednesday, September 30th as the Switchbacks welcome El Paso Locomotive to Weidner Field. 

A return to Texas border country beckons on Wednesday evening as the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC head south to face a streaking El Paso Locomotive FC at Southwest University Park.  

El Paso inflicted San Antonio FC’s first loss of the 2020 USL Championship season on Saturday evening, with the Locomotive winning 2-1 in Far West Texas.  Aaron Gómez moved into the lead on the Locomotive’s goal-scoring charts after deftly sliding home a late first half penalty kick against San Antonio.  Luis Solignac equalized for San Antonio before the match was settled in stoppage-time through a quick-ricochet own-goal from Mitchell Taintor.

“I think El Paso is one of the most difficult places to go play in the entire USL Championship, and it showed with San Antonio going there undefeated last week and losing to El Paso,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Alan Koch.  “We’re under no illusions and we know this is going to be a very challenging trip.  Last time we went there it was men against boys for most of the game, but I felt like we showed a lot of character when they came up to our place.  We showed growth in that game, and now this is going to be another big challenge, but we want big challenges – that’s part of our assessment this year.  That’s the big bonus of being in this group, where every game is a very difficult challenge, so we’d rather play these games because it allows us to assess what we’re building, but it also gives all of us – players and the entire team – an opportunity to rise to the challenge.  This is going to be a big test because El Paso are going to be flying high.  You don’t just beat San Antonio easily, so El Paso are now on a bit of a roll.” 

A return to Texas border country beckons on Wednesday evening as the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC head south to face a streaking El Paso Locomotive FC at Southwest University Park.  

El Paso inflicted San Antonio FC’s first loss of the 2020 USL Championship season on Saturday evening, with the Locomotive winning 2-1 in Far West Texas.  Aaron Gómez moved into the lead on the Locomotive’s goal-scoring charts after deftly sliding home a late first half penalty kick against San Antonio.  Luis Solignac equalized for San Antonio before the match was settled in stoppage-time through a quick-ricochet own-goal from Mitchell Taintor.

“I think El Paso is one of the most difficult places to go play in the entire USL Championship, and it showed with San Antonio going there undefeated last week and losing to El Paso,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Alan Koch.  “We’re under no illusions and we know this is going to be a very challenging trip.  Last time we went there it was men against boys for most of the game, but I felt like we showed a lot of character when they came up to our place.  We showed growth in that game, and now this is going to be another big challenge, but we want big challenges – that’s part of our assessment this year.  That’s the big bonus of being in this group, where every game is a very difficult challenge, so we’d rather play these games because it allows us to assess what we’re building, but it also gives all of us – players and the entire team – an opportunity to rise to the challenge.  This is going to be a big test because El Paso are going to be flying high.  You don’t just beat San Antonio easily, so El Paso are now on a bit of a roll.” 

“Wednesday is definitely going to be a battle,” said central midfielder Rony Argueta.  “We just need to come out and compete.  We keep repeating it; we’re all good players technically and that’s why we’re here at this level, but it comes down to our mindset and wanting to compete and making sure we take care of the details.”  

The Switchbacks and Locomotive have already faced off twice in 2020, with the Locomotive recording a 4-2 win in Texas on August 8th.  Wednesday’s opponents fought out a 0-0 draw on August 22nd at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs.  

“In this group where you play everybody so many times, and we all analyze each other endlessly, I think we all have a pretty good idea of exactly how every team is going to play,” said Head Coach Koch.  “We’re definitely aware of El Paso, but we really want to focus on ourselves.  If we can go in there and play with confidence and put our best foot forward, then hopefully that can lead to a good performance which I think means coming out of the gates with energy and being ready to play right from the start.  Obviously, we have to get the defensive end right, but the best way to defend is to attack, so we want to try to possess the ball as much as possible and hopefully that can allow us to go and create more chances.”  

“Wednesday is definitely going to be a battle,” said central midfielder Rony Argueta.  “We just need to come out and compete.  We keep repeating it; we’re all good players technically and that’s why we’re here at this level, but it comes down to our mindset and wanting to compete and making sure we take care of the details.”  

The Switchbacks and Locomotive have already faced off twice in 2020, with the Locomotive recording a 4-2 win in Texas on August 8th.  Wednesday’s opponents fought out a 0-0 draw on August 22nd at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs.  

“In this group where you play everybody so many times, and we all analyze each other endlessly, I think we all have a pretty good idea of exactly how every team is going to play,” said Head Coach Koch.  “We’re definitely aware of El Paso, but we really want to focus on ourselves.  If we can go in there and play with confidence and put our best foot forward, then hopefully that can lead to a good performance which I think means coming out of the gates with energy and being ready to play right from the start.  Obviously, we have to get the defensive end right, but the best way to defend is to attack, so we want to try to possess the ball as much as possible and hopefully that can allow us to go and create more chances.”  

During the 2020 USL Championship season, the Switchbacks have passed the ball at over an 82% success rate, with Alan Koch’s team nearing 4,000 completed passes.  “I looked the other day, and we were second out of thirty-five teams in the entire league in passing accuracy and that shows what we’re trying to build,” said Koch.  “That shows philosophically what we’re doing and why we’re working a certain way and why we’re trying to play the way we are.  It’s important to keep possession and it’s important to make sure you go create with it.  I think the biggest progression from just keeping the ball is what’s your purpose, and the purpose is to go and create opportunities to score, so I think it’s a huge positive that we have such a high passing accuracy.  But we want to work towards going and creating opportunities with that possession.  We’re trying to build something and being a possession-based team and having technically sound players is part of that and the players have shown that, but in these last five games we want to try and take a step forward and create more chances for ourselves.”  

“Coach is a big believer in us keeping possession,” said Rony Argueta on Monday afternoon.  “He always tells us that we have to possess, but with a purpose – not just possession for the sake of it.  It’s going to be important for us to keep the ball against El Paso because they’re a team that wants to possess and they have a lot of good players that can do that.  But we also need to be creative up top and in the final third with the ball.  We need to be versatile with our attack – whether we’re attacking on the wing with our fullbacks or our wingers or building through the middle.”

Weidner Field will see the Switchbacks face off against New Mexico United on Saturday evening, in a match where New Mexico are designated as the hosts.  After a week of recovery for the Switchbacks, the Real Monarchs SLC will head to Southern Colorado on Saturday, September 26th for the final Rocky Mountain showdown of the season.  

The Switchbacks conclude their September slate on Wednesday, September 30th as they once again face the El Paso Locomotive at Weidner Field.  

During the 2020 USL Championship season, the Switchbacks have passed the ball at over an 82% success rate, with Alan Koch’s team nearing 4,000 completed passes.  “I looked the other day, and we were second out of thirty-five teams in the entire league in passing accuracy and that shows what we’re trying to build,” said Koch.  “That shows philosophically what we’re doing and why we’re working a certain way and why we’re trying to play the way we are.  It’s important to keep possession and it’s important to make sure you go create with it.  I think the biggest progression from just keeping the ball is what’s your purpose, and the purpose is to go and create opportunities to score, so I think it’s a huge positive that we have such a high passing accuracy.  But we want to work towards going and creating opportunities with that possession.  We’re trying to build something and being a possession-based team and having technically sound players is part of that and the players have shown that, but in these last five games we want to try and take a step forward and create more chances for ourselves.”  

“Coach is a big believer in us keeping possession,” said Rony Argueta on Monday afternoon.  “He always tells us that we have to possess, but with a purpose – not just possession for the sake of it.  It’s going to be important for us to keep the ball against El Paso because they’re a team that wants to possess and they have a lot of good players that can do that.  But we also need to be creative up top and in the final third with the ball.  We need to be versatile with our attack – whether we’re attacking on the wing with our fullbacks or our wingers or building through the middle.”

Weidner Field will see the Switchbacks face off against New Mexico United on Saturday evening, in a match where New Mexico are designated as the hosts.  After a week of recovery for the Switchbacks, the Real Monarchs SLC will head to Southern Colorado on Saturday, September 26th for the final Rocky Mountain showdown of the season.  

The Switchbacks conclude their September slate on Wednesday, September 30th as they once again face the El Paso Locomotive at Weidner Field.  

Rivalries will be renewed this Wednesday as the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC head west to face the Real Monarchs SLC at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah.  On July 18th, the Switchbacks fought back with two goals in the final six minutes to tie the Monarchs 3-3 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Utah.  Two weeks in later in Southern Colorado, the Monarchs clinched a stoppage-time victory over the Switchbacks at Weidner Field, with Taylor Peay scoring in the 93rd minute at Weidner Field.  

The Switchbacks head into Wednesday’s match after securing 4 points during a home stand that concluded on Saturday evening with a hard-fought scoreless draw against the Oklahoma City Energy FC.  “I think it’s always really positive when the team gets a clean sheet,” said starting goalkeeper Sean Melvin after recording his first clean sheet for the Switchbacks.  “The guys really helped out.  I don’t think OKC got a single shot on goal in the whole game, which made my job a lot easier, and we hope we can build off that defensively and get something going forward and score some goals in Salt Lake.”

Rivalries will be renewed this Wednesday as the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC head west to face the Real Monarchs SLC at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah.  On July 18th, the Switchbacks fought back with two goals in the final six minutes to tie the Monarchs 3-3 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Utah.  Two weeks in later in Southern Colorado, the Monarchs clinched a stoppage-time victory over the Switchbacks at Weidner Field, with Taylor Peay scoring in the 93rd minute at Weidner Field.  

The Switchbacks head into Wednesday’s match after securing 4 points during a home stand that concluded on Saturday evening with a hard-fought scoreless draw against the Oklahoma City Energy FC.  “I think it’s always really positive when the team gets a clean sheet,” said starting goalkeeper Sean Melvin after recording his first clean sheet for the Switchbacks.  “The guys really helped out.  I don’t think OKC got a single shot on goal in the whole game, which made my job a lot easier, and we hope we can build off that defensively and get something going forward and score some goals in Salt Lake.”

“Coming off a good game against OKC we’ll be ready for the Monarchs,” said Rony Argueta on Monday morning.  “The game against OKC was the first time we’ve faced a team that’s sat back and didn’t really press us, and the Monarchs have a much different style.  We’ve had two days of preparation and we’ll be ready to go.  As a group we feel ready and it helps that we’ve been to Salt Lake before.  We started the season a little slow – especially defensively – so the clean sheet is big for us.  Our back line and our two holding mids have been very solid and we’ve built a good foundation and we’ll look to keep growing and strengthening that.”

“Coming off a good game against OKC we’ll be ready for the Monarchs,” said Rony Argueta on Monday morning.  “The game against OKC was the first time we’ve faced a team that’s sat back and didn’t really press us, and the Monarchs have a much different style.  We’ve had two days of preparation and we’ll be ready to go.  As a group we feel ready and it helps that we’ve been to Salt Lake before.  We started the season a little slow – especially defensively – so the clean sheet is big for us.  Our back line and our two holding mids have been very solid and we’ve built a good foundation and we’ll look to keep growing and strengthening that.”

Argueta and captain Hiroki Kurimoto have formed a foundational partnership in the heart of central midfield for a Switchbacks team that gave new-signing Gabe Robinson his debut against OKC on Saturday night.  “Gabe is not a natural right back, so anytime you play a player out of position it’s a challenge, and particularly being his first game for our club and with our group of players, I thought he did very very well,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Alan Koch.  “He was just a solid, steady presence and kept the game nice and simple, so I think he had a very positive debut.  I always speak about individual responsibility, but then I also speak about partnerships within the collective of the team; and Rony and Hiro are really developing a good understanding of each other, where each other are in possession, and how to help each other out when we don’t have possession.  One of the bright spots – and there’s been several – of the recent games is the growth of both of those players and their understanding of how to play together.”

“When you have a new guy come in they always show a lot of energy because they’re excited to be in the team,” said Melvin when asked about Robinson’s first Switchbacks appearance.  “I think he did well.  He was solid, he fit in really well with the rest of the guys, and I think he had a good game.”

“It was good for the team, and good individually for him – [Gabe] played his role well and he did his job and he helped us get the clean sheet,” added Argueta.  “We’re happy as a collective and for him individually.”

On Saturday evening the Monarchs arrested a four-match losing streak by defeating the Tacoma Defiance 1-0 behind a deft header by Luis Arriaga.  Jimmy Slayton preserved the Monarchs’ first clean sheet of the 2020 campaign, as the reigning USL Championship winners moved to within a point of the Switchbacks in Group C.

Mid-July’s aforementioned 3-3 draw between the Monarchs and Switchbacks was Colorado Springs’ highest goal output away from Weidner Field in 2020.  Andorran left back Joan Cervós opened his goal scoring account for the Switchbacks in first-half stoppage time, before last-gasp goals from Jordan Burt and Abdul Rwatubyaye secured the draw.

“In a short season, sometimes you don’t get the opportunity to play against different styles and I’m glad we played against Oklahoma City because they posed a different type of challenge,” said Koch.  “Those are growth opportunities.  When a team presses you; you have to deal with it.  When they sit off; you have to deal with it.  These are opportunities for us to learn and improve and we said that to the guys after the game on Saturday.  It was a different kind of challenge and we’re glad we went through that, but now playing the Monarchs will be a whole new type of challenge.  When we went there the first time we scored late and left happy, and when they came to us in the second game they scored late and they left happy.  We want to go and put in a good performance and make sure we leave happy at the end of the game.” 

Argueta and captain Hiroki Kurimoto have formed a foundational partnership in the heart of central midfield for a Switchbacks team that gave new-signing Gabe Robinson his debut against OKC on Saturday night.  “Gabe is not a natural right back, so anytime you play a player out of position it’s a challenge, and particularly being his first game for our club and with our group of players, I thought he did very very well,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Alan Koch.  “He was just a solid, steady presence and kept the game nice and simple, so I think he had a very positive debut.  I always speak about individual responsibility, but then I also speak about partnerships within the collective of the team; and Rony and Hiro are really developing a good understanding of each other, where each other are in possession, and how to help each other out when we don’t have possession.  One of the bright spots – and there’s been several – of the recent games is the growth of both of those players and their understanding of how to play together.”

“When you have a new guy come in they always show a lot of energy because they’re excited to be in the team,” said Melvin when asked about Robinson’s first Switchbacks appearance.  “I think he did well.  He was solid, he fit in really well with the rest of the guys, and I think he had a good game.”

“It was good for the team, and good individually for him – [Gabe] played his role well and he did his job and he helped us get the clean sheet,” added Argueta.  “We’re happy as a collective and for him individually.”

On Saturday evening the Monarchs arrested a four-match losing streak by defeating the Tacoma Defiance 1-0 behind a deft header by Luis Arriaga.  Jimmy Slayton preserved the Monarchs’ first clean sheet of the 2020 campaign, as the reigning USL Championship winners moved to within a point of the Switchbacks in Group C.

Mid-July’s aforementioned 3-3 draw between the Monarchs and Switchbacks was Colorado Springs’ highest goal output away from Weidner Field in 2020.  Andorran left back Joan Cervós opened his goal scoring account for the Switchbacks in first-half stoppage time, before last-gasp goals from Jordan Burt and Abdul Rwatubyaye secured the draw.

“In a short season, sometimes you don’t get the opportunity to play against different styles and I’m glad we played against Oklahoma City because they posed a different type of challenge,” said Koch.  “Those are growth opportunities.  When a team presses you; you have to deal with it.  When they sit off; you have to deal with it.  These are opportunities for us to learn and improve and we said that to the guys after the game on Saturday.  It was a different kind of challenge and we’re glad we went through that, but now playing the Monarchs will be a whole new type of challenge.  When we went there the first time we scored late and left happy, and when they came to us in the second game they scored late and they left happy.  We want to go and put in a good performance and make sure we leave happy at the end of the game.” 

“Obviously, OKC and Salt Lake have a bit of a different style but we’ll just try to keep playing our game,” said Sean Melvin.  “We had the clean sheet last game and we’ll use that as a base to build off and we’ll try and take the game to them.  You know what you’re getting yourself into with the same travel and same hotel so I think mentally it will be a bit easier with us knowing what we’re going into and I think we’ll be ready for the game.  I think we just need a bit more energy to score.  We just need that last little determining effort to get us over the line – that collective effort from the group will get us there.  As a goalkeeper, I always look at the clean sheet first, and if we’re not giving our opponent anything we can use that and have that confidence that we’re not giving anything away, and we can build on that.”

“We’re able to progress the ball up the field and we’re able to have the ball where we need, so we just need to be a little more creative in front of goal so we can get clear opportunities for our attackers to put them away,” said Argueta.  “We’ll work hard and do everything we can to get a good result against a good Monarchs team.”  

Following Wednesday’s match the Switchbacks will return home before making the trip to Far West Texas to face El Paso Locomotive on Wednesday, September 16th at Southwest University Park.  The Switchbacks will return to Weidner Field to host the Real Monarchs on September 26th.  

“Obviously, OKC and Salt Lake have a bit of a different style but we’ll just try to keep playing our game,” said Sean Melvin.  “We had the clean sheet last game and we’ll use that as a base to build off and we’ll try and take the game to them.  You know what you’re getting yourself into with the same travel and same hotel so I think mentally it will be a bit easier with us knowing what we’re going into and I think we’ll be ready for the game.  I think we just need a bit more energy to score.  We just need that last little determining effort to get us over the line – that collective effort from the group will get us there.  As a goalkeeper, I always look at the clean sheet first, and if we’re not giving our opponent anything we can use that and have that confidence that we’re not giving anything away, and we can build on that.”

“We’re able to progress the ball up the field and we’re able to have the ball where we need, so we just need to be a little more creative in front of goal so we can get clear opportunities for our attackers to put them away,” said Argueta.  “We’ll work hard and do everything we can to get a good result against a good Monarchs team.”  

Following Wednesday’s match the Switchbacks will return home before making the trip to Far West Texas to face El Paso Locomotive on Wednesday, September 16th at Southwest University Park.  The Switchbacks will return to Weidner Field to host the Real Monarchs on September 26th.