The busy week comes as something of a blessing for Colorado Springs. 

In their last two outings, the Switchbacks were in position to earn draws at Orange County SC and at New Mexico United, but defensive breakdowns led to late scores for their opponents and a pair of defeats for Colorado Springs. 

The frustrating part of it is that the Switchbacks weren’t making these mistakes in preseason, coach Alan McCann said Tuesday. 

“It’s these small, and they keep happening consistently, these small moments where they become a lot bigger now because we’re getting punished. None of that was showing up in preseason. We were looking very, very solid in preseason at the back,” he said. “It’s gone the opposite way now in-season. It’s quite frustrating, so to address it, we’ve basically doubled down and gone back to basics of what we were working on and the principles we had a lot of success with in preseason.”

McCann said the team will work to restore its defensive structure to what it was during preseason. 

Colorado Springs will have the opportunity to showcase its improvement in that department twice this week. On Wednesday, the Switchbacks host USL League One Club Spokane Velocity FC, and on Saturday, the club returns to USL Championship play to take on Lexington SC. 

Kickoff in the second-round Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match Wednesday is 6 p.m.

The Open Cup is a tournament that allows professional and amateur clubs affiliated with U.S. Soccer to compete against each other. Founded in 1914, a champion has been crowned every year, with COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 excluded. Major League Soccer’s Nashville FC is the current champion, however the club will not participate in this year’s cup due to qualifying for the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup. 

In the past, Colorado Springs has typically entered the tournament in the third round or later, but changes to this year’s format saw a reduction in teams and the elimination of a full round of play. 

Colorado Springs bested Denver-based amateur club Azteca FC 3-0 in the first round March 17. 

The Switchbacks haven’t won since.

Even though Wednesday’s match features two clubs from different leagues and different levels in the U.S. professional soccer pyramid, and McCann will presumably play more reserves as opposed to a league competition, it’s an opportunity for Colorado Springs to put the past behind it.  

“I think every time a team loses, and especially players, every time they don’t have a win, I think the first thing they want to do is get back on the pitch to rectify it so the fact that now we have two games in a week to go and rectify that because everybody is very, very p—ed off with these past two results,” McCann said. 

Injury report

Midfielder Devon “Speedy” Williams, who has yet to make his debut this season, is recovering from surgery but is running and ramping up his training. 

Midfielder Steven Echevarria suffered an ankle injury that could sideline him for four to six weeks while he was on international duty with Puerto Rico, McCann said. 

Defender Isaiah Foster has a mild ankle injury that could keep him out for two weeks.