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.[4]
| Other names | Battle for "The Golden Rattler" |
|---|---|
| Location | Southwestern United States |
| Teams | Albuquerque Sol FC FC Tucson |
| First meeting | Albuquerque 1–1 Tucson[1] June 6, 2014 |
| Latest meeting | Tucson 2–1 Albuquerque July 3, 2017[2] |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 12 (9–2–1 Tucson) |
| All-time series | 4–0 (Tucson) |
| Largest victory | Tucson 5–0 Albuquerque July 13, 2016[3] |
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.[5] A day later on the same field Tucson won 3–0.[6] 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.[7]
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.[4]
| ██ | Albuquerque Sol FC victory |
| ██ | FC Tucson victory |
| ██ | Draw |
| Series results | Individual game results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Points | Venue | Date | Score | References |
| 2014 | 7 – 1 (FCT) | Ben Rios Field | June 6, 2014 | ABQ 1 – 1 FCT | [1][8] |
| Ben Rios Field | June 7, 2014 | ABQ 0 – 3 FCT | [6] | ||
| Kino North Stadium | July 4, 2014 | FCT 1 – 0 ABQ | [7] | ||
| 2015 | 3 – 3 (FCT)* | Ben Rios Field | June 6, 2015 | ABQ 1 – 0 FCT | [9] |
| Kino North Stadium | July 4, 2015 | FCT 2 – 0 ABQ | [10] | ||
| post season | Kino North Stadium | July 18, 2015 | FCT 2 – 1 ABQ | [11] | |
| 2016 | 6 – 0 (FCT) | UNM Soccer Stadium | June 25, 2016 | ABQ 0 – 2 FCT | [3] |
| Kino North Stadium | July 13, 2016 | FCT 5 – 0 ABQ | [12] | ||
| 2017 | 10 – 1 (FCT) | Ben Rios Field | May 20, 2017 | ABQ 2 – 4 FCT | [13][14] |
| Kino North Stadium | June 24, 2017 | FCT 3 – 1 ABQ | [15][14] | ||
| UNM Soccer Stadium | July 1, 2017 | ABQ 2 – 2 FCT | [16] | ||
| Kino North Stadium | July 3, 2017 | FCT 3 – 1 ABQ | [2] | ||
* Series tie broken by aggregate score.