Matt Mahoney has been synonymous with the Colorado Springs Switchbacks since the dawn of the Weidner Field downtown era in 2021.

The defender has been the team’s captain since 2023 and a mainstay in the club’s lineup since he arrived. He was a top-three player in minutes from 2021-2025 and in 2024, he was an ironman, playing all 3,450 minutes of the Switchbacks’ championship season. Last year, he led Colorado Springs in minutes again with 2,640. 

This year, however, even with 1,067 minutes (seventh most on the team), 12 starts and 16 appearances in regular-season play, Mahoney hasn’t been a given in the Switchbacks’ starting lineup on a weekly basis. 

It’s a testament to the club’s training environment where every player’s spot in the starting XI is up for grabs on a weekly basis. Every person feels the ups and downs of rigid competition, even if that player has worn a captain’s armband for years.  

“It’s the way we set it up,” Switchbacks coach Alan McCann said following a practice session last month. “Everybody, including (Mahoney), everybody asked for this, everybody wanted this, everybody wanted it to be true competition. So now it’s here and it’s about navigating through those moments.”

Mahoney, 31, started the majority of the club’s regular-season and Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup matches at the start of 2026, but around the middle of May, his appearances became more sporadic. He was available, but did not play in the club’s May 16 Prinx Tires USL Cup match against New Mexico. He played a full 90 minutes the following week at Las Vegas Lights and played just 20 minutes as a sub on May 30 at Oakland Roots. After not making an appearance in the club’s win over El Paso Locomotive FC in the Prinx Tires USL Cup on June 6, he started the next three matches, playing the full 90 minutes with fellow defenders Garven Metusala and Duke Lacroix representing Haiti in the World Cup. 

Metusala returned midweek before the club’s Fourth of July contest against Phoenix Rising FC, and Mahoney did not make an appearance. He subbed in the 45th minute in the club’s final group stage match of the Prinx Tires Cup at Orange County and recorded minimal playing time in the Switchbacks’ two-match week ending on July 25 against Miami FC and Charleston Battery, subbing into both matches after the 80th minute of play.

It’s odd to see a veteran player of Mahoney’s caliber on such a roller coaster of minutes, but per McCann, Mahoney has never entered the building with a negative attitude.

“I can’t speak highly enough about the human beings in this building,” McCann said following the club’s 2-1 win over Charleston Battery. “I can’t speak highly enough about how they’ve responded to being really tested. We’ve really made them uncomfortable, but that exposes everything. That exposes who is matching the words that they said they all wanted. … It’s tough being uncomfortable and they all genuinely, to a man, have responded so, so well.”

Mahoney may not have seen the pitch at all in the club’s July 22 win over Miami FC, but an injury to midfielder Aidan Rochain in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time seemingly changed the plan. 

But even if he’s not on the pitch for the majority of a contest, Mahoney still sets the example for the Switchbacks. 

After that match, he did extra running and work with the team’s director of Sports Performance, Matt Besemer, and stuck around to talk to fans and sign autographs. McCann shared that moment with the team the following days in training. 

“It’s always been about just doing what I can for the team and so any opportunity I get to go out and play, I wear this badge, I go out and try my best,” Mahoney said. “The team’s first, like I said. Just going out there in training and at the end of the day, it’s just proving to coach that I have the ability to go out there and perform and if he chooses me, he chooses me, if he doesn’t, he doesn’t.”

McCann chose him last week as Mahoney earned the start and played 90 minutes in the club’s match at New Mexico.

When Mahoney is not on the pitch, the armband goes to midfielder Devon “Speedy” Williams or forward Juan Tejada or defenders Duke Lacroix or Talen Maples. 

While Williams, Tejada and Lacroix have history with the club, Maples joined this past offseason. Even though he’s a natural leader, he finds ways to emulate Mahoney’s style. 

“He’s very good at knowing when he doesn’t need his voice to be heard,” Maples said of Mahoney. “I think that sometimes I get mixed up because I feel as when I’m talking, I’m locked in and so I’m talking a lot because I’m making sure that I’m stuck in and I’m ready for the game but sometimes guys don’t need that and sometimes the team isn’t calling for that. I’ll make a mistake and I’ll talk and I’ll speak. Matt, I think, has a good idea of when not to speak and let it work itself out.”

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Match details 

Colorado Springs Switchbacks (7-6-4) at Rhode Island FC (6-6-4), Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

Scoring Leaders

USL Championship regular-season stats only 

Goals 

COS: Khori Bennett (11, tied for league lead)

RIFC: J.J. Williams (7)

Assists 

COS: Sadam Masereka, Sam Williams (3)

RIFC: J.J. Williams (4)

Injury report

GK Christian Herrera (Hand)

D Patrick Burner (Knee)

F Juan Tejada (questionable, ankle)

F Yosuke Hanya (Shoulder)