Talen Maples summed up Saturday in a word.

“Frustration.” 

Playing their fifth match in 14 days, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks held level with El Paso Locomotive FC for 84 minutes, but the club’s second own goal in as many games gave the visitors a 1-0 victory at Weidner Field. 

In the 85th minute, Locomotive forward Zyen Jones sent a pass into the six-yard box and new Switchbacks defender Jabari De Coteau mistakenly put it into the back of his own net off an errant touch. 

“The deflection kind of caught me off guard. It deflected and I read it wrong,” De Coteau said. “It’s unacceptable. It can’t happen. Those are the key moments that we need, especially going into the stretch of games. We need that. That’s on me.”

The moment was a gut punch for the team and the fans in attendance, who had spent double the expected time at Weidner Field after the match’s initial 7 p.m. kickoff was delayed more than two hours due to lightning. Even after the danger was gone, rain continuously fell on those who remained. 

De Coteau is one of two players the Switchbacks brought in on loan from the Colorado Rapids early last week.  

Given the club’s challenging schedule and injuries on defense, De Coteau was placed in the starting lineup and played a full 90 minutes. 

The own goal marred what was a solid defensive performance from Colorado Springs. Saturday was a marked difference from the team’s 3-1 loss at Phoenix on Wednesday, which Switchbacks coach Alan McCann called the club’s “worst defensive display” of the season. 

Colorado Springs keeper Christian Herrera finished with three saves and Maples made great defensive plays throughout the evening, including breaking up El Paso chances in the 25th and 36th minutes. 

“I think the guys were just locked in and I think that we were really motivated for this game which is why it’s frustrating to come out with the result that we did,” Maples said. “They’re a good team. They have a ton of rotation. They’re super free-spirited when they play and that’s almost harder for us to defend so to be able to give up limited opportunities and shots is all we can ask for and it’s unfortunate.”

For McCann, however, the Switchbacks didn’t lose Saturday’s match on defense but on offense. 

El Paso entered the contest having shut out its previous three opponents. Locomotive FC ultimately extended that streak to four games, but they had to work for it. 

Visiting keeper Pedro Cruz made five saves in the match. But El Paso’s clean sheet wasn’t solely due to Cruz’s goalkeeping prowess, but due to missed chances from Colorado Springs, according to McCann. 

Some of those missed opportunities were palatable, like forward Khori Bennett’s header in the 28th minute that went just wide of the goal. 

Others were more frustrating. 

For example, forward Juan Tejada stole the ball on a poor pass from Cruz out of the box in the 67th minute. Despite the golden opportunity, the Switchbacks did not put a shot on goal in the immediate sequence that followed. 

“Those moments are what we talked about. We just have to simplify it. There doesn’t have to be any thinking in those moments,” McCann said. “We are overthinking it. We are overplaying, too many touches in those moments. You saw so many of those transition moments, in particular, when we’re moving at that speed of play. It was that final ball or the final action which should have been just a strike, we took three or four touches.” 

The Switchbacks will finally receive a much-needed full week before their next match. Colorado Springs travels to Lexington SC next week.