Switchbacks FC Get Early Strike, Draw Home Finale
September 25, 2022 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC News Release
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC on game day
(Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC)
Colorado Springs, CO – The Switchbacks FC draw the Oakland Roots in their final home match of the regular season.
The Switchbacks FC got started right at the opening whistle, scoring the fastest goal in franchise history as Elvis Amoh lasered a shot into the top right corner of the frame. Colorado Springs continued to control play for the early minutes until the Roots SC put a shot on Jeff Caldwell in the thirteenth minute. Caldwell was up to the task and kept the Switchbacks ahead. Michee Ngalina nearly broke his scoring drought with a great chance in first half stoppage time, but his shot went just high and the half ended one-nil in favor of the Switchbacks.
Oakland began the second half with better pace and began to push back the Switchbacks formation. They broke through the defense in the 57th minute after Elvis Amoh was called for a handball in the box, and the Roots were awarded a penalty kick. Ottar Magnus Karlsson, claimed the tally and it brought Oakland even with Colorado Springs. Ngalina once again had a quality chance ten minutes later in the 67th minute, but just missed wide right. Oakland countered with a chance of their own in the 77th minute but Tristan Hodge erased the opportunity with a beautiful back tracking slide tackle to win the ball. The Roots and Switchbacks would each win a point in the match, as both teams continue their hunt for the playoffs.
The Switchbacks will play their final two regular season games on the road, as they head to El Paso, and New Mexico to finish out the season. Information on those matches are available at switchbacksfc.com.
Post-Game Quotes
Brendan Burke
Overall thoughts:
“Mentality, it was a playoff mentality. And it had to be. With those decisions that came against us we had to fight. Just fight. That’s the only word. We had to defend inside out, we had to defend the box, and I thought everyone on the field did that, all the way up to Michee [Ngalina].”
On Elvis Amoh’s Goal:
“What a banger. WE put Wheeler in the game so we could stretch the field and play off knock downs. I thought we were going to score six goals the way that worked out, but great hit by Elvis and Elvis deserves so much credit for what he’s done for us this season. Hadji [Barry] and Michee [Ngalina] get a lot of the attention, But Elvis has thirteen goals now. I’ve asked him to play in midfield, I’ve asked him to play everywhere, and someone is going to look at, on a night when he got red carded, it’s only because he tracked back as hard as he could, and that was probably his first foul of the game, so it shouldn’t have been a yellow. And you know, his hand comes up when he’s jumping up to block a ball with his face, so I have all the time in the world for him and I know the rest of the locker room does so I want him to get the message, to know we’re all behind him. He’s going to be the way forward for us in the playoffs.”
On the backline performance:
“We have six or seven… maybe eight guys out right now, which is a historic number for me. Personally I have never dealt with that much of an injury rash, so for guys to be able to plug and play, and I changed the tactics at halftime, and I have all the time in the world for the mentality right now. I think its phenomenal, and it sets us up to go on a run in the playoffs.”
Zach Zandi:
On coming back after injury for an important game:
“Obviously it was really great to be back, today was exactly three months since the injury, so its been a long time. But I’m happy to be back out and happy to be helping the team again, it was a good point to get going down a man, a great performance overall, and great fans as usual so hopefully we can reward them with a playoff game.”
On getting more minutes against El Paso:
“I think I’m coming back at a good time, so I just have to stay healthy and do whatever I can to help the team, whatever that is, that’s up to Brendan [Burke] and them, but whatever that is I’m willing to help the team and get us a championship because that’s the main goal here.”
On the depleted defensive side:
“I think we have that next man up mentality, the guys that came in did an amazing job, they stepped up, you saw at the end we were really grinding to get the result and as a team, cohesion. Defensively I think we did a really great job and limited their chances.”
Sebastian Anderson:
On returning to Weidner Field:
“It was incredible, it was great to see everyone here was into it and excited. The atmosphere was great, and it really helped us, especially down a man it really helped us push in the final minutes to get a result.”
On transitioning to left back from right:
“It’s not something new to me, I’ve played there before, even last year I played there a few times. It’s definitely easier for me on the right side, since that’s my dominant foot but it also allows me to come inside on my left foot and get to attack a little bit more and come inside so I don’t mind it at all.”
On the back line performance:
“I think the back line tonight was exceptional. You saw everyone giving it there all, everyone diving into challenges and making great tackles. You saw everyone wear their heart on their sleeve. They defended well and ultimately were let down by that set piece. Other than that we defended together.”
Jeff Caldwell:
Overall thoughts and the backline’s performance:
“We talked about starting well and I’d say we did that, to an extreme. We came out with intensity, we got the goal. I think we would have liked to put our foot on their throat a little bit more, but we defended very well. We had intensity throughout the match. It’s hard when you concede and go down a man in one stroke. That’s unfortunate. But then to show the character to not just survive it, but I thought we went for it, and that was the right reaction. So I think there’s a lot of positives to take from the game, but we’d be a lot more satisfied if we had got away with the three points.”
On the atmosphere:
“As we’ve said before, it’s a huge advantage for us. It’s been a blast all year. You don’t want to say anything either way, but we intend and plan on putting us in a position to play here in the playoffs, so we’re going to go about our business and make sure we can make that happen.”
On getting ready for El Paso:
“Well we’ve played them twice so we know what they’re about and they’re a very good team. We have some time to prepare so at this juncture everyone’s familiar with everybody, so its’ going to be the controllables. And if we do that and take care of our intensity it’s going to be a good game on the road, and both teams have quality. So we take care of our intensity and prepare how we know we can. We give ourselves every opportunity to go in there and take three points out of El Paso.”
Game Statistics:
Man of the Match: Aaron Wheeler
Scoring Summary// COS: Amoh (1′); | OAK: Magnus Karlsson (57′);
Saves// COS: Caldwell (1) | OAK: Blanchette (1)
Discipline// COS: YC: Hodge (45+5′); Amoh (54′); Echevarria (58′) // RC: Amoh (55′) | OAK: YC: Fuenmayor (8′); Mfeka (15′); Hernandez (45+5′); Rito (47′);
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