Life threw lemons so the Switchbacks made lemonade. 

Colorado Springs and visiting El Paso Locomotive FC didn’t begin their 7 p.m. match until nearly three hours later on Saturday due to the longest weather delay in Switchbacks’ history. 

Despite the 9:48 p.m. start, Colorado Springs beat El Paso 2-1 and punched its ticket to the Prinx Tires USL Cup knockout rounds about 20 minutes before midnight. 

Both teams were set for kickoff at the original start time, but final words of the national anthem had barely been uttered before a lightning delay was called at Weidner Field.

Wind, rain and lightning proceeded to pepper downtown Colorado Springs for hours. 

“Within those three hours, it was three hours of just having fun and talking to each other,” Switchbacks forward Jonas Fjeldberg said. “There’s nobody I’d rather spend those three hours with than those guys. We found things to entertain ourselves with. We opened the door and the fans who were walking out, we were just thanking them for coming out today and we’re sorry. It was brilliant. We invited some fans into gym, showed them around and connected with them a little bit. Honestly, it was a fun three hours.”

When the match began, a fraction of the crowd that had originally gathered for the game remained but Switchbacks rewarded those who huddled under the cover of the concourse during the delay. 

Fjeldberg made the most of limited minutes on Saturday. 

He scored the deciding goal in the 70th minute, five minutes after he subbed into the match. 

Colorado Springs coach Alan McCann doesn’t call players who come off the bench subs but finishers rather. Fjeldberg and fellow forward Adrien Perez, who entered the match at the same time, proved why. 

On the goal, midfielder Tyreek Magee sent a pass upfield to Perez who sent the ball inside the box to Fjeldberg. The Norwegian forward finished with a strike to the far post for the score. 

The heroics from the two finishers exemplify the culture McCann wants on the club, a deep, talented roster filled with players who are always trying to make their argument for a starting position and who can make an impact even if they don’t earn that position for a particular match. 

“Jonas was brilliant all week in training, genuinely he was unlucky not to start and what a way to go in and prove your point,” McCann said. “I thought he was fantastic.”

Forwards Sadam Masereka and Juan Tejada made their mark as starters. 

In the early going, Masereka made several plays against the Locomotive’s back line and while he never scored, he gave Colorado Springs a huge advantage in the 25th minute. 

Masereka was threatening to score after receiving the ball on a would-be breakaway but was taken to the ground by El Paso defender Ricky Ruiz. 

Ruiz was shown an automatic red card as a result of fouling a player as the last remaining defender and Locomotive FC finished the contest with 10 men. 

Colorado Springs capitalized in the 38th minute as Tejada put a header past El Paso, and former Switchbacks’ keeper Abraham Romero, after a pair of passes from midfielder Sam Williams and forward Yosuke Hanya. 

Despite the disadvantage of being down a goal and a man, Locomotive tied the game in the second minute of stoppage time in the first half as defender Tony Alfaro’s header found twine off a corner kick. 

Colorado Springs returns to USL Championship regular-season play next week, hosting Sacramento Republic FC.