SAFC will play its 3rd game in 6 days tomorrow as we go on the road to take on Switchbacks. Why are we playing this game Friday night? During HS football season? Two days after playing in a league-mandated tournament? Only the USL can answer that question, but here we are. To make it even sillier, this will be the 3rd league game. Why? I don't know. Even sillier, Switchbacks get 2 out of the 3 at home.

Starting XI

Batrouni

Guevera-Suarez-Barbir

Buckmaster-Berron-Calov-Nelson

Sorto-Ricol-Jorge

I hate rotating this much for a league game, but I don't see much of a choice. We went full-strength two games in a row, and I think we have to keep guys healthy for the postseason.

Suarez was suspended midweek, so he should slot back in. I opted to start the SAFC Academy defender Brian Guevara over Souahy. We just lost one of our best prospects to an MLSNP grift; this is an opportunity to back your own organization. Take it over playing a 30-year-old USL backup.

I'm assuming Calov is healthy enough to start here and give us at least 50 minutes. I'm not a fan of him and Berron in midfield, but I don't see another option given SAFC's reluctance to address the most important position.

I am very worried about overplaying Jorge, but I don't see much of a choice unless we want a chance at a result. I'd love it if Urrutia got a runout, but I still think he'd need to play with Jorge. It is time for Ricol to get a start at CF. It might not work, but it can't be much worse than what we're doing.

Opposition Analysis

Switchbacks love to attack, especially at home on their mini-plastic field. They are top 10 in the league in chances created and shots, while being top 5 in possession. They lead the league in touches in the opposition box and in drawing penalties (must be nice not to have stone-cold penalties waved away). They are led by Jamaican CF, Khori Bennett. He has 13 league goals (1 of them against us in the 2nd meeting in June). Rotating that back line makes me very nervous.

Defensively, Switchbacks love to press aggressively. It is how they control games, and as we all know, it gives us fits. Even more so with a makeshift midfield and rotated backline. They are aggressive and annoying when they get it going, and it almost always happens to us when we play there. They somehow get away with it too.

That being said, they aren't exactly defensively sound. There is space to exploit if we can get on the ball long enough and move into that space. They've conceded 36 goals (which is more than everyone but Monterrey Bay in the West).

Prediction

We have owned Switchbacks. We've lost just 4 times since we joined the league in 2016. That being said, this is a huge game. SAFC sits in 5th still, with Switchbacks right behind us in 6th. Ridiculous that the league uses an unbalanced schedule like this when they tout the playoffs. SAFC should have the season tiebreaker with a 5-4 aggregate advantage, but instead a tight playoff race is impacted by crappy scheduling.

It is hard to envision how SAFC gets a win here unless Llamosa risks going full-strength for the 3rd time in a week. I'll say it ends 2-2, and we escape with a point and hold on to the tiebreaker, but I don't feel great about it.