San Diego Loyal vs. Colorado Springs Switchbacks

Sunday, July 30 at 6:00 p.m.

Torero Stadium – USD

TV: ESPN+

Loyal look to get back to league success

The San Diego Loyal came into their midweek friendly with Borussia Dortmund having won their previous two matches by a combined scoreline of 7-0. They were hopeful that they could put a good performance together against the German giants, but that was not the case. San Diego was beaten thoroughly, as Dortmund won 6-0. However, the Loyal have been in strong form in the league, and they’ll work to continue to rise up the USL league table. 

San Diego sits in fifth place in the USL Western Conference, but they’ve played just 19 matches. Most other sides in the USL have played 20 or 21, so if San Diego is able to string a few victories together, they could shoot up the table.

On Friday, Nate Miller and the Loyal promoted academy star Xavi Gnaulati to the active roster for a professional contract. The 18 has multiple appearances with the squad, including earlier in the week when they played German Giants Borussia Dortmund.

Roster News:

We’ve signed 18-year-old @LoyalSelect midfielder and San Diego native @XaviGnaulati to his first professional contract.

Gnaulati is the second local product (@DuranFerree) to progress through our development pathway to a professional contract with the first team.

— San Diego Loyal (@SanDiegoLoyal) July 28, 2023

Last Time Out

On Sunday afternoon, it’ll have been 16 days since the Loyal last took the pitch for a league match, but their opponent will not have changed. San Diego won 5-0 in Colorado, as they dominated the match in comfortable fashion. They struck twice in the first ten minutes before Colorado’s Romario Williams got a red card in the 15th minute. Blake Bodily’s second goal of the match gave San Diego a 3-0 lead before Tumi Moshobane and Elliot Collier finished the match with goals to make it a complete laugher.

Meet the Colorado Switchbacks

Unlike San Diego, Colorado played a match last weekend, drawing 1-1 with Phoenix Rising FC. The Switchbacks led at the half, but a 90th minute equalizer from Phoenix meant that Colorado was forced to settle for one point instead of three. The Switchbacks sit just one point behind the Loyal, but they’ve played two more matches than San Diego. Colorado’s struggled to score goals at times, as just three Western Conference sides have scored fewer goals this season. 

It’ll be important to put the friendly with Dortmund behind the Loyal, as they need to re-focus themselves on their league campaign. It’ll be the first of five straight matches at home for San Diego, a major opportunity to leap up the table.

Sam Evans

Sam is a Senior in High School. He has been writing for three years, and started at EVT in June of 2021. He’s headed to Syracuse’s Newhouse School of Communications in the fall of 2023.