Juan Tejada said it best. 

“I think the group that we have, the depth of the squad, every game we take it as it’s going to be a win,” he said. “Even if we’re in the Open Cup, we’re in the Prinx Tires Cup or we’re in an additional cup, we’re going to fight and we’re going to try and win it because at the end the (hardware) is the (hardware) and that’s what we’re here for.”

This weekend, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks take a break from the USL Championship regular season to play their second Prinx Tires USL Cup match of the season, hosting rival New Mexico United at Weidner Field on Saturday. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. 

The in-season tournament, featuring all teams from the USL Championship and USL League One, is currently in the group stage. Colorado Springs is grouped with AV ALTA FC, Orange County SC, El Paso Locomotive FC, Phoenix Rising FC and United. The winner of the Switchbacks’ group, and the winners from the six other groups, will advance to the knockout rounds at the conclusion of the stage on July 11. One wild card team will also advance. 

Both Colorado Springs and New Mexico won their opening matches in the tournament on April 25. The Switchbacks bested Phoenix 1-0 while New Mexico conquered AV ALTA 2-1. The results set up a critical match between the rivals. Each team plays four games in the group stage. Earning six points off a 2-0 record would put the winner of Saturday’s contest in prime position to win the group.  

Recent matches have favored the club from Albuquerque, New Mexico. United is unbeaten against Colorado Springs in the previous seven matches. New Mexico earned an extra point toward the group stage by winning in penalties in the tournament last year and defeated Colorado Springs at Isotopes Park in a five-goal thriller earlier this season. 

Despite the history, Tejada remains confident that things will be different Saturday.

“They are a good team for sure and they play good football,” he said. “I think when we first went there, we were a bit, not naive, but we weren’t there yet. We were still building up the team, and getting those relationships and getting those values with the team. So I think now at home, we can really show who we are. I think we can put a lot of pressure on them.” 

Colorado Springs has brought that pressure all season. The Switchbacks rank second in the league for regular-season goals with 17. Khori Bennett, the Switchbacks’ leading scorer, is tied for the league lead in goals with seven. 

Tejada credits the club’s attacking potency to lessons learned from last season. He noted that the Switchbacks weren’t as aggressive as they needed to be with the ball in 2025.

“We were playing good a lot of games, we were controlling a lot of passing, but the passes were sideways, and we were not very dangerous going forward,” Tejada said.

“We had few actions of progressive passes and this is something that we looked at and the staff showed us with data. I think it’s good to see it because now we’ve completely changed a little bit of being more aggressive, taking more risk and that’s football, man. That’s something that as a striker, you want to go in a game and take risks and no matter what do something. … That’s how goals come.” 

The Switchbacks are unbeaten in regulation and extra time in their last eight matches across all competitions with the club’s only negative result coming via penalties against Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup round of 16 April 29. 

They earned draws in the two matches following their Open Cup exit. They played good defense and limited shots, but conceded goals on the opportunities they did give up. The club’s defense on opposing counterattacks has been particularly suspect in recent weeks.  

New Mexico, which found success in transition against Colorado Springs in the match in March, provides a good test to see if the Switchbacks have made the correct adjustments in training this week. 

“They’re very fluid in their movements centrally, they get a lot of numbers forward and into those dangerous areas where for us that’s been a problem,” Switchbacks coach Alan McCann said of New Mexico. “So they’re the pieces this week now that we need to see how do we match up against that on the weekend.” 

Lacroix earns World Cup berth, makes club history  

Switchbacks defender Markhus “Duke” Lacroix was named to Haiti’s provisional 26-man roster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. 

Lacroix is the first player in club history to make a World Cup roster. Per the Switchbacks, Lacroix, alongside El Paso’s Carl Sainté, is the first in league history to play in the World Cup. 

Lacroix has been a longtime member of Haiti’s national team, which qualified for the iconic tournament for the first time in more than 50 years. Though he did not make the aforementioned 26-man roster, Switchbacks defender Garven Metusala was also a part of the Haitian team in its run to the Cup. 

“I’m absolutely heartbroken for Garv,” McCann said. “I don’t think it’s correct that he’s not in that squad, especially the one player who’s gone in ahead of him. … For Duke, I mean once in a lifetime opportunity. I do think he’ll get a chance to play as well and get to showcase himself up against literally the world’s best so what an opportunity for him and for the club too, to have a player at the World Cup. It’s a first. It’s amazing.” 

Kiingi to feature on Saturday 

McCann said defender Kisa Kiingi should feature in Saturday’s match against New Mexico. Kiingi was signed to a 25-day contract announced May 1.

The Switchbacks coach said the team will decide whether to sign Kiingi full-time or not following the contest.