USL Championship playoffs
What: Western Conference semifinals
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Isotopes Park
TV/streaming/radio: New Mexico 50/ESPN+/FM-101.7
Regular-season records: Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (13-9-8),
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New Mexico United (15-8-7)
The series: United leads 15-5-4.
The playoff field has shrunk.
New Mexico United, however, remains. As the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed, it’s also the highest-seeded club — either East or West — still playing.
Will that continue against fifth-seeded Colorado Springs Switchbacks in the West semifinals on Saturday?
Here are some things to note:
Free kicks
1. BRACKETOLOGY: Well, there isn’t any kind of math or theory behind this. We’ll save that for March — along with a few conspiracy theories. This is just a straight-up look at who is still left in the playoffs.
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Eight clubs remain with three of the top seeds in the Western Conference still in contention and three of the bottom seeds in the East still around.
The Eastern semifinal matches will take place first Saturday for those interested.
Louisville City FC, the conference’s fourth seed, hosts eight-seeded Miami FC, which took out the USL Championship’s No. 1 overall seed Tampa Bay Rowdies last week, at 5 p.m. Second-seeded Charleston Battery and sixth-seeded Hartford Athletic follow 30 minutes later in South Carolina.
It is worth noting that Charleston is currently the club in position to host the Championship’s title match. Battery finished the regular season with 53 points. United had 52. So, a Hartford upset would certainly help New Mexico’s cause if it continues winning.
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Over in the West, second-seeded Sacramento Republic FC hosts third-seeded El Paso Locomotive FC at 8 p.m.
Another note? United split its two matches against Sacramento this season with each club winning on the road. New Mexico went 2-1-1 against El Paso.
And just like that, we’re down to eight pic.twitter.com/yG6tv9TrHW
— USL Championship (@USLChampionship) November 2, 2026
2. WANT TO SEE THEM DO IT AGAIN? So, do you?
Saturday will be the fifth time United and Switchbacks will square off with New Mexico holding a 2-1-1 seasonal lead with both wins coming in Albuquerque (more on that below).
United won 3-2 on March 28 thanks to Ousman Jabang’s sixth-minute stoppage-time goal, two minutes after Khori Bennett provided an equalizer for Colorado Springs. Switchback took the second matchup — a USL Cup game — 4-0 in Colorado on May 16. New Mexico did not play half its starters in that contest.
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United topped Colorado Springs again on Aug. 1 courtesy of a 51st-minute score from Maliek Howell. The clubs then played to a 0-0 draw at Switchbacks on Sept. 19.
3. IT’S GOOD TO BE HOME: About those wins in Albuquerque?
United and Colorado Springs have met 10 times at Isotopes Park since 2019 and Switchbacks have yet to win a game. New Mexico is 8-0-2 between regular-season and USL Cup matches, meaning this will be the first postseason meeting between the two — home or away. Both draws came last season.
The score differential in those 10 games? Great question. United: 21 goals. Colorado Springs: 10.
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Oh … also for those curious, New Mexico is 7-5-2 between the regular season, USL Cup and U.S. Open Cup in Colorado Springs.
4. INJURY UPDATE: There are two notables ahead of the conference semifinals.
The first isn’t much of a surprise.
Forward Cristian Nava is out for the remainder of the season with a “severe knee sprain,” it was announced Friday and is expected to return in 2027. He sustained the injury to his right knee in last Sunday’s 2-0 win over Phoenix Rising FC. He checked in the 78th minute and left in the 82nd.
Nava, who tallied two goals and three assists in 31 appearances this season, has dealt with knee injuries before. He suffered ACL tears in 2023 and 2024, which caused him to briefly retire and miss the 2025 season before rejoining the squad in the offseason.
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The question mark is Kipp Keller. The defender missed the Rising match with a “lower-body injury,” likely sustained in the regular-season finale at El Paso. He left with three minutes in regulation. Last week’s match was his first absence since July 15.
This status for Saturday? You guessed it, TBD, per United manager Dennis Sanchez’s usual response.
Key matchup
United forward Joseph Melto vs. Switchbacks defender Talen Maples
Melto has three goals and one assist on the season, but has not scored since the 4-4 draw at Birmingham Legion FC on Sept. 16. Maples has appeared in 39 matches across all competitions for Colorado Springs. But perhaps the most notable thing is he made 75 appearances for United between the 2024 and ’25 seasons, and notched 13 goals, including a career-high nine last year, and two assists.
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Player of the match
United defender Niko Hämäläinen
United has played 37 matches across all competitions this season. Hämäläinen has played in 36. He missed the Oct. 4 game against Phoenix due to a red card suspension. But the defender had 10 defensive contributions, made three tackles and interceptions, and had two blocks and clearances last week. He also won all five of his duels.
By the numbers
1: The number of goals United forward Greg Hurst needs to tie his career high of 14 set in 2021 at USL League One side Union Omaha.
3: Where Switchbacks forward Khori Bennett finished on the Championship scoring list. He notched 16 goals, including two against United in that March 28 match, one behind El Paso’s Rubio Rubín and Phoenix’s Ihsan Sacko.
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10: The number of clean sheets New Mexico keeper Kris Shakes has in non-Cup competitions. It’s good for a tie for fourth in the Championship.
13-4-4: United’s record in Albuquerque between the regular season, U.S. Open Cup, USL Cup and its international friendly. It is 4-1 in home playoff matches all-time as well.
David Glovach covers New Mexico United and other sports for the Journal. Reach him at dglovach@abqjournal.com or via X @DavidGlovach.
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