Colorado Springs Switchbacks currently sit in 4th position in the Western Conference table. They’ve beaten San Antonio and Los Dos, but fell 1-0 at home to Sacramento Republic in between both wins.
Their start has shown significantly more promise than their 11th place finish last season – although with 12 acquisitions over the offseason, this side is quite different from the Switchbacks of 2018.
There are four players who have featured in every minute of the Switchbacks’ season so far: Ismaila Jome, Jordan Burt, Rony Argueta and Shane Malcolm. A further six have featured in at least part of each of the opening three matches.
Colorado Springs has scored five goals so far this season. While that number isn’t unimpressive in itself, it is one less than Rising has managed despite them playing one more game and bagging four more points.
So far, Colorado Springs has proven confident passing the ball around. At 81%, their passing accuracy is tied for third-highest throughout the USL Championship.
At the Back
Andre Rawls is likely to start in goals for the Switchbacks against Rising. The 6-foot-2 Californian played on loan for Orange County last season, keeping ten clean sheets in 29 appearances. Let go by NYC at the end of 2018, he was selected by Rapids in the Re-Entry Draft and moved out on loan to the Switchbacks. Rawls has featured in both wins this season (a 4-1 win on the opening weekend at Los Dos, and the 1-0 defeat of San Antonio last Saturday) and conceded only one goal.
Another Rapids loanee, Clint Irwin, featured in goal for the 1-0 home loss to Sacramento Republic on March 16, when Rawls was temporarily recalled to their parent club. The 29-year-old has previously played 121 MLS games for the Rapids (2013-15) and Toronto FC (2016-18), conceding 169 goals. He was traded back to the Rapids in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft.
16-year-old keeper Abraham Rodriguez has been on the Switchbacks bench in all 3 games to date. A member of the Colorado Rapids Development Academy, Rodriguez has worked his way up through U-14, U-16/17 and U-18 levels since 2016.
Steward Ceus started 17 games for the Switchbacks last season, but has yet to feature in the starting line-up or on the bench this season. Currently in the second year of a 2-year contract with Colorado Springs, the former San Francisco Delta keeper has 16 full caps for Haiti.
Versatile right back Jordan Burt will need no introduction to Rising fans, after his challenge on Zac Lubin last August earned him a straight red. A mainstay in the Switchbacks lineup since their inaugural season in 2015, he can play in both defense and midfield, and was joint top-scorer for the team last year with 6 goals. Burt scored the third goal in Colorado Springs’ 4-1 win at Los Dos on the opening weekend of 2019 and can be a real threat up front.
Another defender returning to Weidner Field for 2019 is Jamal Jack. The Tobagonian joined the Switchbacks from Pittsburgh Riverhounds in 2018, starting in all 34 games and leading the team in clearances (191), blocks (28), duels won and aerial duels won. A tenacious tackler boasting an 81.8% tackle success rate, Jack nevertheless collected just one yellow card last season.
Ismaila ‘Ish’ Jome, formerly of Minnesota United and Nashville SC, moved to Colorado Springs in February. The 24-year-old Gambian initially made his name as a speedy midfielder/winger, but has been used by the Switchbacks in defense to date. A great passer of the ball (86.1% success rate this season), Jome is also renowned for his tackling. Last season, he notched up a 92.3% tackle success rate for Nashville SC in 19 USL games.
Center back Kris Reaves is another new signing for 2019. A graduate of the FC Dallas Academy, 23-year-old Reaves started two MLS games and appeared twice as a sub in 2018, before being released at the end of the season. Another good passer of the ball (84.2% success rate today for 133 passes), Rising fans can expect to watch the Switchbacks regularly try to play the ball out from the back.
Ibrahim Yaro is one of two former Medeama SC (Ghana) players in the Switchbacks roster. A new signing for 2019, he can play as a center back, right back or holding midfielder, and was a member of the Ghanaian U-23 National Team for the African Cup of Nations last December. After starting the season in the Switchbacks line-up at Los Dos, Yaro has since made two appearances off the bench.
Yaro lost his place in the starting lineup to Kofi Opare. The 28-year-old Ghanaian is another loanee from Rapids. Opare clocked up 77 MLS appearances since debuting for LA Galaxy in 2013. Opare moved to the Rapids from DC United (65 appearances, 3 goals, 1 assist) in February.
Another Rapids loanee at the back is Sam Raben. A key member of the Rapids’ U-23 PDL team for the past two seasons, the Colorado native is the Rapids tenth Development Academy player to sign a first-team contract. Prior to that, he helped Wake Forest University to 46 clean sheets in 91 starts. An unused substitute in the last two games, Raben is awaiting his debut for Switchbacks.
In the Middle
Defensive central midfielder Rony Argueta is in his second spell with the Switchbacks. The 2017 Switchbacks team captain rejoined the club after spending 2018 with Fresno (23 appearances, 3 goals). With over 110 USL appearances to his name, Argueta is an excellent passer of the ball (93.9% success rate). He collected his first caution of the season last Saturday, after committing two fouls in three minutes.
Canadian Jordan Schweitzer returns for his second season with the Switchbacks after playing in all 34 games of the 2018 season. He accumulated three assists from 21 key passes while maintaining a pass success rate of 84%. A former Sounders 2 and Orlando City B midfielder, Schweitzer has been capped up to U-23 level for Canada.
One of the key threats will come from attacking midfielder Shane Malcolm. The Guamanian international has netted 11 goals in 61 appearances for the Switchbacks since 2017. Malcolm scored a hat-trick on the opening weekend at Los Dos, all scored inside the box (two with his right foot; one with his head).
Malcolm is likely to be joined by Alex Molano, whose former clubs include Dinamo Zagreb U-19 (Croatia), Bodens BK (Sweden) and NK Vrapče (Croatia). 2016 was a good year for Molano. He made one CONCACAF Champion League appearance for Sporting Kansas City in a 3-1 home win v Central FC (Trinidad and Tobago) and played 19 games for Swope Park Rangers. The 26-year-old most recently featured in five games for North Carolina FC in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 2017. Molano has started all 3 games for Switchbacks to date, but was substituted midway through the second half last Saturday.
Kwasi Donsu is the second former Medeama SC player on the Switchbacks roster. The 23-year-old scored seven goals in 14 games for Medeama in 2018 before moving to the Switchbacks this season, and has U-23 honors for Ghana. He replaced Molano for the final 10 minutes at Los Dos, but was an unused substitute in the last 2 games.
Up Front
18-year-old Matt Hundley has made three substitutes appearances this season, clocking up 59 minutes of game time. A product of the Rapids Academy, Hundley spent one semester at UCLA, where he led the Bruins with five goals and seven assists in 19 appearances in the Pac-12. He signed a four-year homegrown contract with the Rapids in January, before moving on loan to Weidner Field. Hundley was called up to the U-19 youth national team camp in January.
20-year-old César Romero is on a season-long loan from FC Motagua of the Liga Nacional (Honduras). Romero has only enjoyed eight minutes of game time so far this season, but certainly made his mark off the bench with an 86th minute winner from outside the box against San Antonio last Saturday. He featured for Honduras in the CONCACAF U-20 Championship last November.
Local Connections
Saeed Robinson is a former Grand Canyon University student who played 13 games for FC Tucson in 2013, scoring two goals. The Jamaica-born midfielder is in his second spell at the Switchbacks, rejoining the club in 2018 after one season with North Carolina FC. He’s started and been subbed off in all three games in 2019, and has scored 10 goals in 88 games for the Switchbacks since first signing for the club in 2015.
Forward Mike Seth has started all 3 games this season, but has registered only one shot on target. He rejoined the Switchbacks this season, having previously scored 12 goals in 56 games for the club in 2015-16. Seth made a handful of appearances for Rising in 2017 without scoring, before clocking up 22 games in all competitions for San Antonio since then: again, with no goals. A Seth goal is long overdue, and Phoenix will have to hope that the trend of former players scoring against them doesn’t continue.
From the Ashes Prediction: The goals can’t continue at their current rate. 1-1 draw.