The Southwestern Showdown is an annual rivalry series first held in 2014 between FC Tucson and Albuquerque Sol FC, soccer clubs in USL League Two. The club to gain the most league standings points over the course of all regular-season meetings is given the Golden Rattler, a trophy depicting a rattlesnake ready to strike, to hold for the following year.
Inaugural series The first ever match between the two clubs was held on June 6, 2014 at Ben Rios Field in Albuquerque, a 1–1 draw. A day later on the same field Tucson won 3–0. Tucson secured both the 2014 series (7–1) and the Mountain Division title with a 1–0 victory in the final match, held in Tucson on July 4 at the Kino Sports Complex North Stadium.
Results Three league standings points are awarded for a victory and one for a draw. In the event that the two clubs earn an equal number of league points in their regular-season head-to-head matches, the series tie is broken first by total goals scored within the matches (aggregate score) and then by Mountain Division standings at the end of the regular season.
██ Albuquerque Sol FC victory ██ FC Tucson victory ██ Draw Series results Individual game results Year Points Venue Date Score References 20147 – 1 (FCT) Ben Rios Field June 6, 2014 ABQ 1 – 1 FCT Ben Rios Field June 7, 2014ABQ 0 – 3 FCT Kino North Stadium July 4, 2014FCT 1 – 0 ABQ 20153 – 3 (FCT)* Ben Rios Field June 6, 2015ABQ 1 – 0 FCT Kino North Stadium July 4, 2015FCT 2 – 0 ABQ post season Kino North Stadium July 18, 2015FCT 2 – 1 ABQ 20166 – 0 (FCT) UNM Soccer Stadium June 25, 2016ABQ 0 – 2 FCT Kino North Stadium July 13, 2016FCT 5 – 0 ABQ 201710 – 1 (FCT) Ben Rios Field May 20, 2017ABQ 2 – 4 FCT Kino North Stadium June 24, 2017FCT 3 – 1 ABQ UNM Soccer Stadium July 1, 2017 ABQ 2 – 2 FCT Kino North Stadium July 3, 2017FCT 3 – 1 ABQ Series tie broken by aggregate score.
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