{"id":18343,"date":"2023-10-20T16:45:27","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T22:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsengine-develop.go-vip.net\/switchbacksfc\/?post_type=sec_news&#038;p=18343"},"modified":"2023-10-20T16:45:28","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T22:45:28","slug":"vargishs-view-2","status":"publish","type":"sec_news","link":"https:\/\/sportsengine-develop.go-vip.net\/switchbacksfc\/news\/2023\/10\/vargishs-view-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Vargish&#8217;s View: Switchbacks Head Into The First Round Of 2023 Playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video aligncenter\"><video height=\"1080\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1920 \/ 1080;\" width=\"1920\" controls src=\"https:\/\/sportsengine-develop.go-vip.net\/switchbacksfc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/10\/20231018_Vargishs-View-Tejada.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Switchbacks open their 2023 USL Championship Playoff journey in the Alamo City on Saturday evening against defending champions San Antonio FC. The match in the Lone Star State will kick off at 7pm, with live coverage by the voice of the Switchbacks, Ryan Kaufman,<br>beginning at 6:30pm on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.xtrasports1300.com\/\"> XTRA Sports1300AM<\/a>.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Victory over Phoenix Rising <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsengine-develop.go-vip.net\/switchbacksfc\/news\/2023\/10\/colorado-springs-switchbacks-win-against-phoenix-rising-fc-2-0\/\">last Saturday night<\/a> at Weidner Field ensured the Switchbacks finished the season as the #5 overall seed in the Western Conference. San Antonio completed their regular season with a wild 3-3 draw against 10-men Indy Eleven on Saturday at Toyota Field, behind goals from Santiago Pati\u00f1o, Tani Oluwaseyi, and Mitchell Taintor.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">San Antonio Sneak Peak:<br>\u201cCollectively at set-pieces [San Antonio] are fantastic,\u201d said Switchbacks Head Coach Hogan. \u201cYou have to look at Tani [Oluwaseyi] up top and you look at [Santiago] Pati\u00f1o [too]. And then you have their back-three with Mitch [Taintor] and [Fabien] Garcia who can also score goals from set-pieces \u2013 and they always fight. So those four leaders [drive them] and then Connor Maloney never stops running. They have their own mentality, and they have their own mindset, and it works for them. We need to be faster on the ball, and if we do that, we are better than them. For me that\u2019s a fact, so we\u2019ll see.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGames [against San Antonio this season] were very, very close,\u201d continued Hogan. \u201c[The game on Saturday will be about] the physical duels [and] it&#8217;s the physical idea of who wants to compete and who wants to win. And it&#8217;s understanding that if you come out with that [physicality] and then you start to play a bit of football, well maybe we take control because at that point we&#8217;re probably better than them. The last regular season game [against Phoenix] and [this week] was a good preparation week in terms of how we&#8217;re going to try and start the game in San Antonio. [Saturday is] a great opportunity to knock them off at their place and hopefully we&#8217;re back here [at Weidner Field] the second week [of the playoffs].\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What the Switchbacks Say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Midfielder Juan Tejada: \u201cWe have to go there and be strong and I think we showed that in the past seven [or] eight games that we were on a good run. If we continue doing what we do and what we\u2019re really good at \u2013 and we fight as a team \u2013 we\u2019re going to get a result. Everybody is bought in [to our] culture now and it\u2019s been the perfect time for us to be getting these results away and at home. We\u2019re very confident. It\u2019s going to be a tough game \u2013 it\u2019s football [and] it\u2019s 90 minutes and anything could happen, but we\u2019re going to go there and give it [our] all.\u201d Switchbacks Head Coach Stephen Hogan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have an idea of where we can move the ball really quickly [against San Antonio]. We have to make really big decisions on [the inclusion of<br>Romario Williams in the starting XI on Saturday] because he\u2019s scoring goals for Jamaica, he\u2019s scoring goals for us \u2013 and it\u2019s good to see. But who comes off the team who played against Phoenix? That\u2019s been a big discussion for us all week. And the players know it and it helps because the intensity \u2013 especially in the forward line \u2013 has been through the roof [at practice] And I need that to stay where it is before I make my decision [on the starting lineup against Phoenix].\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vargish\u2019s View:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Did we really think San Antonio and the Switchbacks wouldn\u2019t face each other in this season\u2019s playoffs? The Switchbacks were almost punished for winning against Phoenix Rising last weekend and thereby earning themselves the #5 seed in the Western Conference Playoffs and Saturday\u2019s trip to south-central Texas, as recent playoff matches don\u2019t get much more difficult than those against SAFC. Saturday\u2019s hosts defeated the Switchbacks 2-0 in the 2022 Western Conference Finals at Toyota Field, and this weekend will again rely on their physicality to try and intimidate and bully their way to the semi-finals. The Switchbacks know what\u2019s in store at Toyota Field. The stands will be packed \u2013 the Spurs don\u2019t open their regular season until next Wednesday in Dallas \u2013 and that energy will be absorbed by an SAFC squad stacked with experienced players that are no strangers to deep playoff runs. If the Switchbacks can withstand early pressure and not give away cheap set-piece opportunities, the on-the-ball ability of Stephen Hogan\u2019s team will be given a chance to shine. And when the Switchbacks move the ball with pace and purpose, they can defeat anyone, even the defending champions in the heart of Texas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Switchbacks open their 2023 USL Championship Playoff journey in the Alamo City on Saturday evening against defending champions San Antonio FC. The match in the Lone Star State will [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":16815,"template":"","meta":{"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","sec_enable_news":false},"sec_news_tag":[],"sec_sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-18343","sec_news","type-sec_news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Vargish&#039;s View: Switchbacks Head Into The First Round Of 2023 Playoffs - Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vargish&#039;s View: Switchbacks Head Into The First Round Of 2023 Playoffs - Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Switchbacks open their 2023 USL Championship Playoff journey in the Alamo City on Saturday evening against defending champions San Antonio FC. 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