Wednesday night was proof that Alan McCann bet on the right horse. 

Since taking over as the Switchbacks head coach in November, McCann has been focused on bringing the club back to the level it was at in 2024, when the team captured its first championship. 

From before the 2026 season began, McCann has emphasized the importance of building a roster filled with men of character. 

“You should see the commitment these lads are putting out there in the ugly moments, the stuff that doesn’t show up on a stat sheet. The stuff, honestly, they don’t get bonuses for, but all those things matter,” McCann said at the club’s media day before the first weekend of the season.

“It’s the pieces that nobody can teach them. It’s that last moment in front of the goal, putting your face where some people wouldn’t put their feet.”

Defender and captain Matt Mahoney embodied that mentality during the Switchbacks’ Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match Wednesday, when he made an unbelievable play to keep the ball out of the goal in the second half. Forward Yosuke Hanya did the same with his relentless play leading to several scoring opportunities for the Switchbacks. Keeper Christian Herrera embodied that mentality with his multiple saves, including two penalties during the shootout that followed extra time. The team embodied it after earning a late equalizer in the 119th minute on a penalty kick off a handball. 

After taking Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids down to the wire, Colorado Springs may be done with the Open Cup for 2026, but a very dangerous Switchbacks team remains in the USL Championship and the league’s Prinx Tires USL Cup. 

This Saturday’s match at San Antonio FC (4-1-3) will be the Switchbacks’ next opportunity to show it. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. 

When the Switchbacks (2-2-2) take the field Saturday, they’ll do so with an 11-4 advantage in goals in their previous five outings. They entered the match with the Rapids on a five-game unbeaten run across all competitions.  

The run is a turnaround from the start of the season, which saw Colorado Springs concede nine goals in five USL Championship regular-season games. 

McCann has often pointed to the Switchbacks’ bye week in early April as the catalyst for the change. During that time, there was a heart-to-heart.  

On the first day of training during that week, McCann said the team, players and coaches alike, asked themselves where they were falling short of the goals they set before the season. 

“All we do is throw the question out and the group starts to talk,” McCann said. “Luckily enough, we have a very open forum whenever we do video, or we do team meetings or player meetings, and people will talk and they won’t hold back. That’s the way we want it.”

Having the right players in the building to respond to criticism is crucial, and for McCann, the accountability piece comes down to trust.

“It’s man to man now in our building,” McCann said. “You say you want to do something and be something, okay, we believe these are the steps to get there and everything that you control along those steps, we’ll hold you accountable and everything that we can help with … you hold us accountable too. That’s the basis of a relationship, isn’t it? That’s just person to person. If the actions were opposite to what we’re talking about, then they’re not going to trust.”

Right men for the job 

Herrera impressed in goal for Colorado Springs against the Rapids on Wednesday, but McCann made it clear that between Herrera and Colin Shutler, the job is no particular keeper’s to lose. 

“They’re both training and playing well. That’s where we want them,” McCann said. “We want them absolutely, you know at any given moment in time, you have a guy there who can take your spot. Rather than it be a one mistake gets me out, it’s an, “I gotta be on my toes because I know that guy is capable of taking the spot because he’s training well.’

“Then we have to look at the next piece of opponent. Just like a center back, just like a center midfielder, just like a striker. Do our players have strengths that can expose the opponent’s weakness? Do they have strengths that can limit the opponent’s strengths? And that’s where now we can look at (each game), which out of the two provide a very unique possibility for us to either heighten our strengths, limit their strengths or can we expose their weaknesses.” 

Welcome to the club

Colorado Springs announced the signing of defender Kisa Kiingi to a 25-day contract on Friday. 

Kiingi comes from Minnesota United’s second team, where he played 845 minutes and scored a goal in 14 appearances. 

“Kisa brings with him a physical presence defensively, along with some versatility that can add to the competition within the squad,”  McCann said in a release. “He is a very driven, hard-working character, which is a key part of quickly integrating into the locker room, so we feel that fit is a perfect one.”

Scoring leaders

USL Championship regular-season stats only 

Goals 

COS: Khori Bennett (6)

SAFC: Jorge Hernández (3)

Assists 

COS: Sam Williams, Sadam Masereka (2)

SAFC: Cristian Parano (3)