Switchbacks captain Matt Mahoney gets better with time, embraces new responsibilities on and off pitch
The key to growing older may be to embrace what’s new.
Switchbacks defender Matt Mahoney is by no means advanced in his years, but at age 30, the captain is definitely one of the elders on the team.
He has also been playing some of the best soccer of his career the past two seasons.
Durability and dependability have always been a part of Mahoney’s game as the defender out of Buffalo, N.Y. has played at least 30 matches in each season from 2021-2024. In Colorado Springs’ championship campaign last year, Mahoney played every minute of all 38 matches for the Switchbacks. He was also named to the USL Championship’s all-league first team, joining just five players in Colorado Springs’ history to receive an all-league honor and just two (Hadji Barry and Luke Vercollone) to receive a first-team honor.
This season, Mahoney has found a way to balance his time as a professional athlete and a first-time father.
“With the kid, the addition earlier in the year, I’ve had to adjust because, obviously, that’s a little bit more tiring. But I think I’ve gotten in a good rhythm. I think it showed a bit in the beginning of the year, maybe a little more mental lapses than I’m happy to admit, but I think I’ve got a routine down now. My wife helps me a million times at home,” Mahoney said. “It’s just sticking to the same patterns, like eating well, sleeping well. The habits that have helped me since I was a teenager.”
The routine is working. Mahoney has four goals on the season, the most in his tenure with the Switchabcks. He scored two of those goals in front of his son, earning his first-career brace (two goals in one match) in a 3-1 win over Lexington SC on Aug. 1.
“First and foremost, (fatherhood is) super rewarding. He’s nine months now almost. He’s in a phase where he’s super cute, moving around things like that,” Mahoney said. “I got to walk out with him here, maybe it was a month and a half, two months ago, and I actually scored that night. … It was a humbling experience, amazing experience.
“I’m just trying to enjoy it as much as possible. I’m very fortunate my wife’s home and I get to go home half the day and hang with him after training. So I’m very fortunate, and hopefully he grows up in the soccer world and sees a little bit what I’m about.”
Mahoney also earned an assist in the club’s 3-3 draw at Tampa Bay on Sept. 13. Switchbacks coach James Chambers said Mahoney’s growth in the attack is due in part to the way the staff has trained the club this season.
“I think people are looking at it from, maybe he’s getting better because he’s putting up a couple of goals from set pieces and he has the assist because he’s playing right back the other night. So I think that stands out a little bit more but his performances since I’ve sat in the chair have been phenomenal,” Switchbacks coach James Chambers said. “I think he’s added a bit more of a threat from set pieces. That’s where I think his stats are starting to add up and I think that’s testament to him. I also think it’s testament to the staff behind me that do all the work with relation to that. So it’s twofold from that standpoint.”
Hartford Athletic (10-10-5) at Colorado Springs Switchbacks (8-10-7), Sept. 27 at 6 p.m.
Blast from the past: Former Switchbacks head coach Brendan Burke and several former players including Hadji Barry, Michee Ngalina, Sebastian Anderson and Beverly Makangila are set to return to Weidner Field.
Points for a playoff push: Hartford enters Saturday’s match on the cusp of a top-4 spot in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference while the Switchbacks are just above the playoff line in the West in the eighth and final spot. Colorado Springs has already dropped two matches of a four-match homestand.
Competing against an old friend?: Saturday has the potential to be Barry’s first match at Weidner Field since he was transferred from the Switchbacks in 2022, a year after he won the league’s MVP and Golden Boot awards. Barry, who joined Hartford earlier in the month, was not available for selection in Athletic’s 2-1 loss against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC last week.
Mahoney is excited to see his friend and former captain on and off the pitch.
“I had no idea he was going to end up back at Hartford so I shot him a message after, I was like, ‘Aww man, you should have come back to the Switchbacks,’ just messing around,” Mahoney said. “I’m super happy for him. I know he’s had a couple injuries over the past couple years. I’m glad to see him in the USL.
“It’ll be fun to compete against him. We had a lot of battles in training that were fun and it’s always fun to share the field with guys that you’ve played with and had good relationships with in the past.”
Switchbacks captain Matt Mahoney gets better with time, embraces new responsibilities on and off pitch
The key to growing older may be to embrace what’s new.
Switchbacks defender Matt Mahoney is by no means advanced in his years, but at age 30, the captain is definitely one of the elders on the team.
He has also been playing some of the best soccer of his career the past two seasons.
Durability and dependability have always been a part of Mahoney’s game as the defender out of Buffalo, N.Y. has played at least 30 matches in each season from 2021-2024. In Colorado Springs’ championship campaign last year, Mahoney played every minute of all 38 matches for the Switchbacks. He was also named to the USL Championship’s all-league first team, joining just five players in Colorado Springs’ history to receive an all-league honor and just two (Hadji Barry and Luke Vercollone) to receive a first-team honor.
This season, Mahoney has found a way to balance his time as a professional athlete and a first-time father.
“With the kid, the addition earlier in the year, I’ve had to adjust because, obviously, that’s a little bit more tiring. But I think I’ve gotten in a good rhythm. I think it showed a bit in the beginning of the year, maybe a little more mental lapses than I’m happy to admit, but I think I’ve got a routine down now. My wife helps me a million times at home,” Mahoney said. “It’s just sticking to the same patterns, like eating well, sleeping well. The habits that have helped me since I was a teenager.”
The routine is working. Mahoney has four goals on the season, the most in his tenure with the Switchabcks. He scored two of those goals in front of his son, earning his first-career brace (two goals in one match) in a 3-1 win over Lexington SC on Aug. 1.
“First and foremost, (fatherhood is) super rewarding. He’s nine months now almost. He’s in a phase where he’s super cute, moving around things like that,” Mahoney said. “I got to walk out with him here, maybe it was a month and a half, two months ago, and I actually scored that night. … It was a humbling experience, amazing experience.
“I’m just trying to enjoy it as much as possible. I’m very fortunate my wife’s home and I get to go home half the day and hang with him after training. So I’m very fortunate, and hopefully he grows up in the soccer world and sees a little bit what I’m about.”
Mahoney also earned an assist in the club’s 3-3 draw at Tampa Bay on Sept. 13. Switchbacks coach James Chambers said Mahoney’s growth in the attack is due in part to the way the staff has trained the club this season.
“I think people are looking at it from, maybe he’s getting better because he’s putting up a couple of goals from set pieces and he has the assist because he’s playing right back the other night. So I think that stands out a little bit more but his performances since I’ve sat in the chair have been phenomenal,” Switchbacks coach James Chambers said. “I think he’s added a bit more of a threat from set pieces. That’s where I think his stats are starting to add up and I think that’s testament to him. I also think it’s testament to the staff behind me that do all the work with relation to that. So it’s twofold from that standpoint.”
Hartford Athletic (10-10-5) at Colorado Springs Switchbacks (8-10-7), Sept. 27 at 6 p.m.
Blast from the past: Former Switchbacks head coach Brendan Burke and several former players including Hadji Barry, Michee Ngalina, Sebastian Anderson and Beverly Makangila are set to return to Weidner Field.
Points for a playoff push: Hartford enters Saturday’s match on the cusp of a top-4 spot in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference while the Switchbacks are just above the playoff line in the West in the eighth and final spot. Colorado Springs has already dropped two matches of a four-match homestand.
Competing against an old friend?: Saturday has the potential to be Barry’s first match at Weidner Field since he was transferred from the Switchbacks in 2022, a year after he won the league’s MVP and Golden Boot awards. Barry, who joined Hartford earlier in the month, was not available for selection in Athletic’s 2-1 loss against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC last week.
Mahoney is excited to see his friend and former captain on and off the pitch.
“I had no idea he was going to end up back at Hartford so I shot him a message after, I was like, ‘Aww man, you should have come back to the Switchbacks,’ just messing around,” Mahoney said. “I’m super happy for him. I know he’s had a couple injuries over the past couple years. I’m glad to see him in the USL.
“It’ll be fun to compete against him. We had a lot of battles in training that were fun and it’s always fun to share the field with guys that you’ve played with and had good relationships with in the past.”