This Saturday will be about standards for Colorado Springs.

The Switchbacks will seek to maintain one and reset another. 

Colorado Springs hosts Lexington SC in its second USL Championship home match at 3 p.m. Saturday. The team will have a bye week following the contest.

Through one league match and two Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup matches at Weidner Field, the Switchbacks (1-2-1) have been dominant in their attack in front of a home crowd, outpacing opponents 25-8 in shots on target.

It’s a standard coach Alan McCann wants his club to continue. 

“If you put our Vegas game, you put (our Spokane game) plus the Open Cup game against Azteca, it’s three dominant performances on the ball at home. We’re doing our bit in front of goal in terms of getting goals but we should have had at least three more (on Wednesday),” McCann said after the team’s win over Spokane Velocity FC. “Dominant overall at home … is what we wanted from the start of the season and realistically, we have to shore up the defensive side.”

The back end hasn’t been as pretty for Colorado Springs as the club has conceded goals in the 87th minute or later in its previous three matches. Two of the three times resulted in a Switchbacks loss.  

After an error on a set piece gave visiting Spokane an 87th-minute goal and new life Wednesday, sending the Open Cup match to extra time and eventually penalties, McCann was adamant about making personnel changes. 

“It’s not acceptable anymore. Errors from a couple of individuals over and over again,” he said. “They’re good enough to not be performing that way, and they’re good enough to not have those mental blips so now it’s a standards thing. You cannot be allowed to stay in a team and you’re consistently costing the team. So we have to hit the reset button on a couple lads, they will not play on Saturday.”

A new standard could be set in goal as well Saturday, as keeper Christian Herrera’s heroics in penalties Wednesday earned him a second look at the starting job this weekend when the Switchbacks return to league play. 

After Colorado Springs and Spokane battled to a 1-1 draw after extra time, Herrera gave the Switchbacks a massive boost in the ensuing shootout by saving the first two Velocity FC attempts. 

Herrera earned the start in the Switchbacks’ season opener March 7, but the club has since gone with Colin Shutler in goal for league games the past three weeks. McCann hinted that might change following Herrera’s effort Wednesday. 

“We have two fantastic goalkeepers in the building,” McCann said. “There’s constant competition, but Chris has just made it very, very difficult as to who gets picked for Saturday and that’s what we ask him to do when he goes in there.”

Scoring leaders

Lexington SC

Goals: Aaron Molloy (2)

Assists: Nicolas Firmino, Michael Adedokun (1)

Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC

Goals: Khori Bennett (3) 

Assists: Sam Williams (2)

Switchbacks set to host MLS SKC in Open Cup round of 32

Colorado Springs will host Major League Soccer’s Sporting Kansas City at 6 p.m. April 14 in the round of 32 for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The match marks the second straight year that the club has hosted an MLS opponent for the Open Cup. The Switchbacks hosted the New York Red Bulls last season.