Well, our open cup run has ended. It wasn’t really a run, more like a quick sprint. After beating El Faro away, we had to travel to Sacramento where we played a great game but lost in injury time going down 1-0.

Does the Cup Matter?

Short answer: no. The cup doesn’t really matter. If we got to the final, sure then it might matter a little, but that was unlikely. Even if we were the last USL team in the cup we would have only scored $25,000 – a paltry sum compared to a match day – its more profitable to play a friendly against a big team at home than play away in the USOC.

The truth is that I don’t really care about the USOC until we can actually host some matches. I don’t want to travel to play San Jose or LA – I want them to come to Fresno and give the Foxes some publicity. Until I can sit in my season seat at our soccer-specific stadium, it doesn’t really matter how far we go into the cup except for glory’s sake – and right now the glory I want is the USL Western Conference.

The best part is now Sacramento will have to exhaust themselves playing an MLS team, and it might give us the chance to rest when we wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. Hopefully, we can focus on the USL Championship and gain some points on Sacramento’s exhaustion.

COSvFRS

The Foxes are traveling to Colorado Springs to take on the Switchbacks on Saturday, June 1st at 5:00 P.M.

The game is only three days after our defeat to Sacramento, so we should expect some rotation from Smith. After Saturday we will have a nice set of evenly spaced games once a week, which is a welcome relief after the last month of grueling back to back games.

Who to Watch

The key players on the switchbacks are few and far between. They have struggled as a team both offensively and defensively. The key figures on their squad are Jordan Burt and Shane Malcolm – neither is a forward and both lead the team with three goals apiece. That is an essential point because those two are responsible for 6 of the teams 11 goals. Malcolm has also managed to create the most chances on the team.

A Pushover?

It’s been a rough season for the Switchbacks. Their current record?

2-8-2.

They are the second worst team in the division, just above the Tacoma Defiance. Last week I wrote about how we should be able to easily dismantle the Defiance and look what embarrassment we faced against them – blame tired legs, or burn out – we still tied a team that we were leading in the 89th minute.

I don’t think we should take COS lightly. It was a mistake to underestimate Tacoma, and it would be a mistake to underestimate Colorado Springs. Therefore I think we need to tighten up our defense. We are coming off a loss to Sacramento, and we will have endured 3 games in less than two weeks – Smith has got to figure out the puzzle. We need three points to keep at the top of the table, and keeping the Switchbacks quiet in front of our goal should be priority number one.

Against Tacoma, we weren’t lacking for goals, but many of our goals came from significant errors they made rather than our own brilliance. I think it would be prudent to make sure that our backline is strong – we need good defensive fullbacks in place. We should score early, and then park the bus. If we can hit them on the counter, spread them thin, all the better, but winning ugly is sometimes what you need to lift the team out of a rut, and that is what we will be in if we lose or draw to a bottom level team.

Prediction

I think we have a good shot, but I am going to say 1-0 to the Foxes. We need to be clinical in front of their goal, but ruthless in front of our own. I am looking for Del Campo and Daly to come up big and stop any set pieces.

Win by a lot or a little, winning is the key.

#SomosZorros #DaleFresno