COLORADO SPRINGS (August 9, 2019) – Rio Grande Valley FC (6-11-5, 23 pts.) travels to the elevation to take on Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (6-14-3, 21 pts.) in their own home. The road matchup is set to kick off at 7:00 P.M. CST at Weidner Field on ESPN+.
As the season starts its latter portion, both teams are in desperate need of wins wherever they may come. Colorado currently trails the Toros in the standings by two points, placing them in the sixteenth spot.
On the road, RGV FC has not been at their best as they chase a three-point result this Saturday. The Toros will head into the match with a 5-game losing streak on the road.
The Switchbacks have given up 40 total goals to their opponents on the season, scoring exactly half that amount, 20. Their seemingly low goal-scoring ability thus far may impact the way in which the Toros prepare for this match. Perhaps an emphasis on attacking and looking to unbalance the Colorado defense early and often is a good game plan this time around.
In the last meeting between the sides, on June 15, RGV FC was able to lock in a clean sheet, 3-0 victory at home. With the amount of created chances on the rise for Gerson Echeverry’s side, there are hopes of netting goals if they are disciplined. “Just one more goal than them will be ideal. We just need to minimize the giving up of bad goals, make sure that they earn anything they get, and we are not giving them easy looks into our goal”, said Echeverry.
Switchbacks FC last saw action this past Wednesday when they faced Portland Timbers II at Weidner Field, that match ended in a 2-2 draw. Jordan Burt has been the dynamic scorer for Colorado Springs with five total goals on the season. Teammate Ismaila Jome has been making it happen on the attack with 36 created chances for the attacking third game of the Switchbacks.
A reliable defensive piece for RGV FC is Andrew Samuels who has shown some solid work in the backfield, he provided his input on the upcoming match; “The mindset is three points and nothing less. We know that we need that if we are going to stay in this playoff run. We are going there to hopefully get a win and play our best, just like we did against Reno 1868 FC, put them on the back foot and hopefully the [goals] fall for us this time.”
If the Toros execute on all of their chances, you can rely on a similar result as last time, especially in the backfield. Discipline and determination will be the motto for both sides in this match.
Updates on the match will be provided via Twitter at @RGVFC or by following #SomosToros. To see more matchday information, visit https://www.rgvfc.com.
# SOMOS TOROS #
