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USL Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC

Switchbacks FC Draw a Thriller with El Paso Friday Night

August 13, 2022 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC News Release


Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC versus El Paso Locomotive
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC versus El Paso Locomotive
(Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC)

Colorado Springs, CO - The Switchbacks FC fight back after giving up three unanswered to draw with the Locomotive Friday night at Weidner Field.

The match got started quickly as El Paso tested Jeff Caldwell in the early minutes. Caldwell was up to the challenge with a full extension save. Colorado Springs countered the momentum in a big way as Hadji Barry found the back of the net twice in the first six minutes to give the Switchbacks the early advantage. COS wasn't finished with the early onslaught as Cam Lindley found Elvis Amoh with an open look from the far side of the 18. Amoh spotted a shot in the lower left corner of the frame.

The Switchbacks went into halftime with their three goal lead intact, but El Paso would answer in a big way in the second half. The Locomotive scored four unanswered goals in the span of just 14 minutes to pull ahead of Colorado Springs getting tallies from Dylan Mares and Lucho Solignac (Lou-co SOL-ee-nack) each scoring twice.

The Switchbacks would find the equalizer in stoppage time as Jairo Henriquez sent a forward ball into the 18, where Aaron Wheeler had a great effort to stay onside and place a header far-side to get COS even at 4. Tempers were high as the game closed out but each team was able to take a point from the night.

The Switchbacks take to the road as they have a mid week meeting with Sacramento Republic Wednesday night. The team will return to Weidner Field Saturday August 20th as they host the Tampa Bay Rowdies for their Soccer for All Night. Tickets to that match, and all other matches, are available HERE.

Quotes

Brendan Burke

Overall Thoughts

"The reason we are out here late is because we were talking to the whole group, we had a hard conversation and a lot of words were exchanged, you can't lose a three goal lead on the road or at home, and to do it at home is shameful. There is no other way to put that."

On Wheeler's First Goal in a Big Moment

"He helped us scrape out a point in OC and that's character, its willingness and character and we lacked that in the second half. That's why I put him on the field and that's why I put him on the field in OC. You saw how the two of us celebrated here, he means the world to us because of that character.

On the First Ten Minutes

"The guys pressed well, we had our angles right, timing was good and we pressed the life out of them. That lead to two of the three goals at least, maybe all three. Credit to the forwards for getting their timing right, angles right, but the reality is collectively to come in at halftime three-nil...it's shameful, that's the only word I can use. The guts to comeback from 4-3 after you have been punched in the mouth like that I think is probably historic for me as a coach to be up 3-0 and then down 4-3 and to rescue a point tells me that there is still a lot of life in us. We are still in the top three in the western conference and we survived the brutal summer schedule, so we will find our feet, but we have some soul searching to do. That was bad.

Aaron Wheeler

On First Half vs Second Half

"At the end of the day it's all mentality, you can't concede three and obviously we conceded four. If we want to be the best team in the western conference and the league, we need to be able to close out games and that's on us. Its about the belief in the group and being able to do the things that need to be done to get the results we want."

On Getting Back Against Sacramento

"We showed that we have the character to come back but, again we shouldn't be putting ourselves in this position. We were up massively in this game, they should have been done and dusted and we should have taken the joy of football away from them. We have no excuses moving forward to Sacramento, we have four full days and that is plenty of time to recover."

Bret Halsey

On His Debut

"Initially it was amazing, the fans here, the energy. That was the most energy intensive 45 minutes that I have played my whole life. Getting the three goals was really really nice, the whole intensity of that first half was the best 45 I have been a part of my entire life. Unfortunately the second half, obviously it didn't go as well as we would have wanted it to, but I think we are going to get a lot of constructive criticism together amongst the guys and I hope we can carry that moving forward."

On Fitting in to the Scheme

"I felt pretty decent initially, I was able to work very hard in the first half, as you could tell towards the end of the second half when I got subbed out I was feeling it a little bit. It just goes to how we were playing, it was really high intensity, it is something I can really get behind, I love to play that way."

Cam Lindley

On Wheeler's Impact

"He is everything we want in a Switchbacks player, gives us everything everyday. He is the first one here and is the last to leave, he is literally a Switchbacks player. It was awesome seeing him get that first goal coming out of retirement. You saw the emotion from the group on that and wish we got all three points.

On Two Assists and the First Ten Minutes

"You have the three best players in the league going forward so I just get them the ball at the right time, I just picked it up and got them the ball at the right time and they did the rest. It's an easy job for me when you have those kinds of guys on the field.

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Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC versus El Paso Locomotive
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC versus El Paso Locomotive
   



United Soccer League Championship Stories from August 13, 2022


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