Switchbacks Shut off Las Vegas Lights with 1-0 Win at Home

May 11, 2018 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC News Release

Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC battle Las Vegas Lights FC for possession
(Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, Credit: Isaiah J Downing)

Looking to end their rough run of form, the Switchbacks hosted USL expansion side Las Vegas Lights FC, looking to end their 332-minute scoring drought. It was Las Vegas who had a couple of early chances, but the Switchbacks backline continued to be an unbreakable wall, as the held them off. The match would see some back and forth action, but neither side was able to capitalize on any of their chances. The Switchbacks had a couple of late opportunities but fell short, going scoreless in their 8th straight half.

The Switchbacks got a little scare in the 49th-minute as Las Vegas found the back of the net, but their goal was called back for offside. The Switchbacks nearly broke their scoring drought just five minutes later, but their goal was called back for a foul called inside the six-yard box. The Teams battled back and forth before the Switchbacks finally found a breakthrough in the 70th-minute. Jordan Schweitzer played a ball into Luke Vercollone, who was able to slot it into the far post to end the scoring drought at 401 minutes. Las Vegas would continue to push for an equalizer, but once again, the Switchbacks defense held strong recording another clean sheet in a 1-0 win at home.

"Overall we needed the three points," said Head Coach Steve Trittschuh. "We kept the tempo of the game up and may have been too fast. But, to get the three points tonight was huge. We're still creating a lot of chances and defensively we were strong again, not allowing a shot on goal. We just need to keep building on this and take the momentum going into our next match."

"It was crazy, madness!" Said Man of the Match Luke Vercollone. "It was fun, a lot of intensity which created a lot of opportunities for us. I thought we controlled and dominated the match, but we finally scored, praise God! I'm very happy with the result."

The Switchbacks return home Wednesday, May 16th as they host FC Denver in the second round of the 105th edition of the U.S. Open Cup. Tickets are just $5 and available here. Fans 21+ can get $1 beer the first 30 minutes when gates open at 6:00 PM.

Post-Match Quotes

Steve Trittschuh - "Overall we needed the three points. We kept the tempo of the game up and may have been too fast. But, to get the three points tonight was huge. We're still creating a lot of chances and defensively we were strong again, not allowing a shot on goal. We just need to keep building on this and take the momentum going into our next match."

Jord Schweitzer- "I thought they came in and did what they wanted to do, as far as making it chippy and trying to score on the long ball. But, I thought we did well to manage the game and our emotions. We knew coming into the game that everything was on us, we've been doing everything well but the goal just wasn't coming. Today it's a big goal from Luke and a great finish."

Luke Vercollone-"It was crazy, madness! It was fun, a lot of intensity which created a lot of opportunities for us. I thought we controlled and dominated the match, but we finally scored, praise God! I'm very happy with the result."

Man of the Match// Luke Vercollone

Scoring Summary// COS: Luke Vercollone (Schweitzer) (70') | LV:

Saves// COS: Steward Ceus (0) | LV: Ricardo Ferrino (3)

Discipline// COS: | LV: Marcelo Alatorre (YC), Marco Jaime (YC), Carlos Alvarez (YC)

Colorado Springs Switchbacks celebrate (Isaiah J Downing)	Colorado Springs Switchbacks vs. the Las Vegas Lights (Isaiah J Downing)	Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC goal smoke (Isaiah J Downing)
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC goalkeeper Steward Ceus vs. Las Vegas Lights FC (Isaiah J Downing)	Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC battle Las Vegas Lights FC for possession (Isaiah J Downing)

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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