March 16, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC News Release
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC’s Maalique Foster in action
(Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, Credit: Isaiah Foster)
Colorado Springs, CO – 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.
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…