A trip to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado to face Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids awaits the winner of Wednesday evening’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup showdown at Weidner Field between the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC and the Oklahoma City Energy FC.
A wild, back-and-forth 3-3 draw with visiting Reno 1868 FC started the Switchbacks’ three-game home stand last Saturday night. Two bravely-taken goals from right back and Man of the Match Jordan Burt and a crisp strike by veteran forward Aaron King helped the Switchbacks twice fight back to eventually draw Reno 1868, who had entered Weidner Field as the hottest, freest scoring team in the entire USL.
“Coming off the loss in Salt Lake this was a very tough game,” said central defender Sean McFarlane immediately following the tie against Reno 1868 FC. McFarlane, a contender for Man of the Match after a steely performance in the heart of the Switchbacks’ defense alongside Josh Phillips, then looked forward to the two upcoming matches against the Energy FC. “We faced adversity tonight and that will help next week. I’m very excited for OKC. We know what it takes to win games so we have to take that forward in the Cup and the league.”
In a strange scheduling twist, the Switchbacks will again host the Energy FC at Weidner Field – this time in USL Western Conference play – just three days after Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup match, on Saturday, June 3rd.
“It’s going to be a heck of a week,” said goalkeeper Dan Jackson, who started and kept a clean sheet in the Second Round U.S. Open Cup victory over F.C. Tucson at Weidner Field on May 17th. “Tonight [against Reno 1868 FC] I thought we showed a lot of fight and character. That’s part of our mentality – where we always keep fighting. Hopefully again in the Open Cup, some of the guys who don’t get a lot of chances to play will be able to get some playing time. We all have something to prove and it’s always exciting to get out there.”
The Oklahoma City Energy FC booked their place in the Third Round against the Switchbacks with a 5-1 victory against Moreno Valley FC of the United Premier Soccer League. That victory, also on May 17th, took place at John Crain Field in Norman, Oklahoma on the campus of the University of Oklahoma.
Moreno Valley FC snatched an early, unexpected first half lead before five straight goals sealed the OKC Energy’s progress to the Third Round. Energy striker Alex Dixon opened the scoring for OKC just before the 20-minute mark. Tied 1-1 at the start of the second half, the Energy exploded for four goals in a six-minute span after Moreno Valley FC’s first half goal scorer Edgar Gonzalez was sent off. A second strike from Alex Dixon was quickly followed by goals from Polish striker Wojciech Wojcik, USL veteran Andy Craven, and former Switchbacks star Miguel González, as the Energy comfortably sailed into Wednesday’s Third Round.
Two victories in the USL’s Western Conference followed for the Energy, with a narrow 1-0 win over Orange County SC on May 20th being followed on Wednesday, May 24th by a 2-1 decision over the struggling Portland Timbers FC 2.
“That’s our new rivalry now,” said Switchbacks winger Shane Malcolm when asked about the Energy. “We made a big step in the right direction against Reno after our last two defeats. Hopefully, we can make things right against Oklahoma because I felt we could have won our earlier game versus them.”
The Switchbacks opened 2017 USL play at Weidner Field with a 1-1 draw against the Energy FC on April 1st. An early goal by winger Masta Kacher was quickly canceled out by Alex Dixon just six minutes later.
Changes abounded for the Switchbacks in their U.S. Open Cup Second Round win over FC Tucson of the Premier Development League. Sean McFarlane was deployed as an auxiliary striker alongside Kevaughn Frater and Jun Gyeong Park. Jacob Cawsey anchored the midfield, with Eddy Prugh and Taeseong Kim playing just off the Englishman. A defensive four of Josh Suggs, Diego Gutierrez, Pascal Eboussi and Conner Bevans held FC Tucson scoreless in front of the aforementioned Dan Jackson.
“We’ll decide early in the week who will face OKC on Wednesday,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Steve Trittschuh. “I want to rest some guys on Wednesday but we have a lot of options. Josh Suggs didn’t appear tonight [vs. Reno 1869 FC] so that’s a boost for both games next week. The Open Cup is great but like I said before, our focus is on the league.”
Suggs, a late scratch from the Switchbacks’ starting lineup against Reno 1868 FC, was replaced at the last minute by former Gonzaga University Bulldog Conner Bevans. “Conner did really well for us tonight,” said Trittschuh when asked about the unexpected lineup change. “He’s a very versatile player and he showed that coming in late tonight and he gave us a solid performance.”
Should the Switchbacks defeat the Energy on Wednesday they would face off, once again, with MLS’ Colorado Rapids. The Rapids have knocked the Switchbacks out of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in each of the past two seasons at the Fourth Round stage. A 4-1 Rapids win in 2015 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park was followed a year later by a tight 1-0 victory that came after a late Dillon Serna goal finally broke the resistance of a valiant Switchbacks performance.
The unique scheduling twist of facing the OKC Energy FC twice in just four days will no doubt have an impact upon the starting lineups for both teams in Wednesday’s match and the Saturday USL fixture that follows.
“It will be interesting to see what OKC does with their lineups against us,” said Trittschuh. “We’ll have to see who they play on Wednesday and we’ll go from there with our lineup for next weekend. We really want to play the Rapids again and see how far we can go this year. The last two years we got to the Fourth Round so we want to keep that going. Our guys like playing at Dick’s and against the Rapids, so we want to progress past Wednesday against OKC!”
A trip to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado to face Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids awaits the winner of Wednesday evening’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup showdown at Weidner Field between the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC and the Oklahoma City Energy FC.
A wild, back-and-forth 3-3 draw with visiting Reno 1868 FC started the Switchbacks’ three-game home stand last Saturday night. Two bravely-taken goals from right back and Man of the Match Jordan Burt and a crisp strike by veteran forward Aaron King helped the Switchbacks twice fight back to eventually draw Reno 1868, who had entered Weidner Field as the hottest, freest scoring team in the entire USL.
“Coming off the loss in Salt Lake this was a very tough game,” said central defender Sean McFarlane immediately following the tie against Reno 1868 FC. McFarlane, a contender for Man of the Match after a steely performance in the heart of the Switchbacks’ defense alongside Josh Phillips, then looked forward to the two upcoming matches against the Energy FC. “We faced adversity tonight and that will help next week. I’m very excited for OKC. We know what it takes to win games so we have to take that forward in the Cup and the league.”
In a strange scheduling twist, the Switchbacks will again host the Energy FC at Weidner Field – this time in USL Western Conference play – just three days after Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup match, on Saturday, June 3rd.
“It’s going to be a heck of a week,” said goalkeeper Dan Jackson, who started and kept a clean sheet in the Second Round U.S. Open Cup victory over F.C. Tucson at Weidner Field on May 17th. “Tonight [against Reno 1868 FC] I thought we showed a lot of fight and character. That’s part of our mentality – where we always keep fighting. Hopefully again in the Open Cup, some of the guys who don’t get a lot of chances to play will be able to get some playing time. We all have something to prove and it’s always exciting to get out there.”
The Oklahoma City Energy FC booked their place in the Third Round against the Switchbacks with a 5-1 victory against Moreno Valley FC of the United Premier Soccer League. That victory, also on May 17th, took place at John Crain Field in Norman, Oklahoma on the campus of the University of Oklahoma.
Moreno Valley FC snatched an early, unexpected first half lead before five straight goals sealed the OKC Energy’s progress to the Third Round. Energy striker Alex Dixon opened the scoring for OKC just before the 20-minute mark. Tied 1-1 at the start of the second half, the Energy exploded for four goals in a six-minute span after Moreno Valley FC’s first half goal scorer Edgar Gonzalez was sent off. A second strike from Alex Dixon was quickly followed by goals from Polish striker Wojciech Wojcik, USL veteran Andy Craven, and former Switchbacks star Miguel González, as the Energy comfortably sailed into Wednesday’s Third Round.
Two victories in the USL’s Western Conference followed for the Energy, with a narrow 1-0 win over Orange County SC on May 20th being followed on Wednesday, May 24th by a 2-1 decision over the struggling Portland Timbers FC 2.
“That’s our new rivalry now,” said Switchbacks winger Shane Malcolm when asked about the Energy. “We made a big step in the right direction against Reno after our last two defeats. Hopefully, we can make things right against Oklahoma because I felt we could have won our earlier game versus them.”
The Switchbacks opened 2017 USL play at Weidner Field with a 1-1 draw against the Energy FC on April 1st. An early goal by winger Masta Kacher was quickly canceled out by Alex Dixon just six minutes later.
Changes abounded for the Switchbacks in their U.S. Open Cup Second Round win over FC Tucson of the Premier Development League. Sean McFarlane was deployed as an auxiliary striker alongside Kevaughn Frater and Jun Gyeong Park. Jacob Cawsey anchored the midfield, with Eddy Prugh and Taeseong Kim playing just off the Englishman. A defensive four of Josh Suggs, Diego Gutierrez, Pascal Eboussi and Conner Bevans held FC Tucson scoreless in front of the aforementioned Dan Jackson.
“We’ll decide early in the week who will face OKC on Wednesday,” said Switchbacks Head Coach Steve Trittschuh. “I want to rest some guys on Wednesday but we have a lot of options. Josh Suggs didn’t appear tonight [vs. Reno 1869 FC] so that’s a boost for both games next week. The Open Cup is great but like I said before, our focus is on the league.”
Suggs, a late scratch from the Switchbacks’ starting lineup against Reno 1868 FC, was replaced at the last minute by former Gonzaga University Bulldog Conner Bevans. “Conner did really well for us tonight,” said Trittschuh when asked about the unexpected lineup change. “He’s a very versatile player and he showed that coming in late tonight and he gave us a solid performance.”
Should the Switchbacks defeat the Energy on Wednesday they would face off, once again, with MLS’ Colorado Rapids. The Rapids have knocked the Switchbacks out of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in each of the past two seasons at the Fourth Round stage. A 4-1 Rapids win in 2015 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park was followed a year later by a tight 1-0 victory that came after a late Dillon Serna goal finally broke the resistance of a valiant Switchbacks performance.
The unique scheduling twist of facing the OKC Energy FC twice in just four days will no doubt have an impact upon the starting lineups for both teams in Wednesday’s match and the Saturday USL fixture that follows.
“It will be interesting to see what OKC does with their lineups against us,” said Trittschuh. “We’ll have to see who they play on Wednesday and we’ll go from there with our lineup for next weekend. We really want to play the Rapids again and see how far we can go this year. The last two years we got to the Fourth Round so we want to keep that going. Our guys like playing at Dick’s and against the Rapids, so we want to progress past Wednesday against OKC!”
