Brennan Creek is currently in the best year of his professional career, and last week was the latest cherry on top.  

The Colorado Springs Switchbacks midfielder scored a tying goal against Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids in the club’s first-ever appearance in the round of 16 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on April 29. Then last weekend, his strike in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time led to a San Antonio FC own goal, earning a draw for the Switchbacks. 

Moments after the equalizer, he put his hands to his ear, taunting the San Antonio fans while he and his teammates celebrated. 

The scene was a far cry from the beginning of Creek’s tenure. He joined the Switchbacks midway through the 2025 season when he signed a 25-day contract in late July. He bet on himself and has won every gamble since, earning a contract for the remainder of the season and playing well enough for the team to exercise its option for 2026. 

It’s a surprising turn of events after Creek suffered an injury that could have ended his career. 

Two years ago, while he was playing for MLS NEXT Pro’s Huntsville City FC, a trip to Philadelphia Union II went awry. 

“It wasn’t like a crazy incident in the game but after the game, my knee, when we were on the plane, like blew up,” he said. “I couldn’t even walk off the plane basically, and so something obviously was wrong. I could feel it during the game a little bit, but obviously the adrenaline and stuff, I was fine, just finished the game. Come to find out, I tore my meniscus in my knee and I tore my labrum in my hip.”  

He said under normal circumstances, he would have returned to competition in six to eight weeks, but an old condition that had plagued Creek as a child reared its ugly head and complicated his recovery process.  

The 25-year-old out of Kalamazoo, Michigan, grew up with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. 

“(It) was really bad back then because it was kind of rare. They didn’t really know what it was so that miraculously went away when I was younger but then once I got this injury … it came back,” he said. “The problem was every time, one or two days, I’d feel good, and then the swelling would come back and it wasn’t because of the meniscus or labrum. It was just that swelling in the knee would come back because of arthritis and it would just slow the progression down.”

What could have taken two months lasted a year, which made teams wary of signing Creek. 

The opportunities he did receive always seemed to fall through due to contract issues or some other reason. At one point, Creek was ready to put soccer behind him. 

“I just remember sitting there like, ‘How do I work all the way back a whole year, finally get myself healthy and now I’m having these issues with contracts,’” Creek said. “It just almost felt like it wasn’t meant to be. There was a point for two weeks where I was done, like I had quit.”

Scott Wells, then coach of USL League Two side Asheville City SC, threw Creek a lifeline. He invited him to join the North Carolina-based team for the Open Cup and then asked him to join the club for the summer.  

USL League Two teams like Asheville City are often proving grounds for college athletes looking to go pro. The league season runs from May to August, allowing athletes to train before college soccer resumes in the fall.

The clubs are also great for players like Creek who are trying to work their way back to the pros. 

In 2025, Creek played eight matches with Asheville City, playing 670 minutes and scoring a goal with two assists. 

His efforts earned him a call from then-technical director, now Switchbacks head coach Alan McCann for a trial with Colorado Springs. 

During that trial, McCann said he noticed Creek in part because of his ability to duel others and to fight for possession of the ball. He’s maintained that trait into this season, where he’s appeared in six of the club’s seven regular-season matches and has started in four. 

“He’s bringing that exact piece he brought from his trial,” McCann said. “It’s the intensity, he’s winning his duels, he’s winning the battle, he’s willing to get into the fight. He’s physically capable to win the fight in most games and he’s never ever given up. He’s fit as a fiddle, he will go until the legs come off.”

McCann loves that fight and sought to recruit like players when building the roster. That fight is the glue that enables his team to perform in big moments and it’s what he believes will be the ultimate difference maker on the field. 

Creek fits that mentality like a hand to a glove. 

He overcame arthritis as a child and went to play soccer collegiately at Western Michigan University and the University of Kentucky. He joined the third division of the U.S. soccer pyramid with Huntsville and MLS NEXT Pro and after an injury and a long recovery, he dropped down to the fourth tier of the pyramid with Asheville City, only to then jump to the second tier in the USL Championship and Colorado Springs.   

At the end of the day, it’s those challenges that push him to fight so hard. Creek has the physical fitness and endurance now because he didn’t always have it as a kid. He cherishes each moment on the pitch, and knows each day he’s able to play soccer is a blessing.  

“At times, I wasn’t physically able to get out of bed,” Creek said of dealing with his arthritis growing up. “Being able to move, being able to run, doing all that stuff, you can’t just take that for granted every day.”  

Orange County SC at Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC Friday, May 8, at 7 p.m.

Tale of the tape

Orange County (4-2-3) is second in the USL Championship’s Western Conference while Colorado Springs (2-2-3) is eighth. Orange County beat Colorado Springs on March 21 by a 1-0 score. Sixteen-year-old Tyson Espy scored in the 89th minute for OC to earn the win. 

Game notes

Business as usual: While McCann is proud of the Switchbacks’ run in the Open Cup and said the players felt they could have advanced against the Colorado Rapids, he is ready for business as usual, meaning just having one game most weeks. 

“It’s always more comfortable and easier to manage when you’re just week by week, one game a week,” he said. “Now it allows us to be how we built the roster and that is everybody challenging for 11 spots.” 

Controlled Chaos: The Switchbacks held two leads at San Antonio FC last weekend and relinquished both, resulting in a draw. While McCann has been happy with the way the club has attacked and created chaos in the opponent’s penalty area, he said there needs to be a balancing act when the Switchbacks take a lead. 

“When a team is coming at you with more energy and more momentum, what do they not want? They don’t want it broken up, they don’t want it slowed down, they don’t want you to win clean possessions,” McCann said. “There’s certain moments where yeah, we turned the opponent, yeah, we made them defend and it’s chaotic, but we are trying to create chaos that is a definite approach, but that doesn’t mean it should be chaotic the other way. From leading positions, then you need to switch from chaotic to control.” 

Scoring Leaders 

USL Championship regular-season stats only

Goals

COS: Khori Bennett (6-tied for league lead)

OC: Lyam MacKinnon (3)

Assists

COS: Sadam Masereka, Sam Williams (2)

OC: Marcelo Palomino (2)

McCann nabs Coach of the Month honors

McCann was named USL Championship Coach of the Month of April, the league announced Wednesday. 

Colorado Springs led the league in expected goal differential at 3.39 across two regular-season games in April, a 1-1 draw against Lexington SC and a 4-1 drubbing of Monterey Bay FC. 

Outside of league play, Colorado Springs bested MLS’ Sporting Kansas City by a 3-0 margin in the Open Cup on April 14 and took the Colorado Rapids to the wire in a seven-round penalty shootout on April 29.  

The Switchbacks also beat Phoenix Rising FC 1-0 in their first match of the Prinx Tires USL Cup on April 25.

McCann received 63% of the vote for the honor.