The Colorado Springs Switchbacks are playing their first match in the Eastern time zone on Saturday with a game at Loudoun United FC at Segra Field in Leesburg, Va.

The match is the first of five games in 15 days for the Switchbacks, with four of them away from the friendly confines of Weidner Field.

Earlier this season, the Switchbacks had stretches where they were off for periods of 14 and 15 days, respectively.

“Explain this schedule to me,” said Switchbacks coach Brendan Burke. “I don’t think anybody can. It’s crazy.”

Loudon United is a USL Championship affiliate of Major League Soccer’s D.C. United.

“This is an opportunity to do well,” Burke said. “Loudoun has a very good core of players, but as a group there’s so much chopping and changing it presents an opportunity if we stick to our own identity to go and get three points out there.”

Other Switchbacks games over the course of the next two weeks include Aug. 4 at Austin Bold FC, Aug. 7 at home against Hartford Athletic, Aug. 10 at Memphis 901 FC and Aug. 14 at Rio Grande Valley FC in Edinburg, Texas.

After a seven-day break, the Switchbacks will be in Charlotte on Aug. 21 for a game against the Independence. Colorado Springs rounds out its busy August schedule with a home game against Austin on the 28th.

Saturday’s game at Loudoun will be a homecoming of sorts for several Switchbacks players who have roots on the east coast, including defender and team captain Jimmy Ockford. The gritty Ockford grew up in the Philadelphia area and played most of his high school, collegiate and pro career on the east coast.

“My family will be out to our game,” said an excited Ockford, the only member of the Switchbacks to play in every minute of every match this season. “My immediate family and a few other people will come down. It will be nice to see everyone and catch up.”

Other Switchbacks players expected to have family and friends at the game include Zach Zandi, Matt Mahoney, Michael Edwards and Stevie Echevarria, as well as Burke, who coached and played the bulk of his career in the east.

The Switchbacks, ranked 18th in the league’s power rankings, enter the match with Loudoun fifth place in the Mountain Division with 18 points (5-5-3). Colorado Springs has just one victory in its last five matches.

Loudoun (2-12-0, 6 points) is dead last in the league’s power rankings at 31st. Loudoun has lost five consecutive games and is last place among eight teams in the Atlantic Division.

The Switchbacks flew to Virginia on Thursday so they could get acclimated to the two-hour time change, heat and humidity.

They will tfly directory to Austin from Virginia for similar reasons in preparation for Wednesday’s game in Texas.

They will not return home until next Thursday.

Switchbacks forward Haji Barry needs one goal to tie the all-time franchise mark for a season. In 2015, Luke Vercollone scored 14 goals for Colorado Springs during its inaugural campaign.

Barry leads the USL Championship in goals, four better than Tampa Bay’s Sebastián Guenzatti.