This August, Columbia Falls High School will host an NCAA Division I collegiate soccer match at Flip Darling Memorial Field in what is expected to be one of the most exciting and well-attended sporting events in the Flathead Valley.
The University of Montana Grizzlies and the Gonzaga University Bulldogs will open their fall schedules in an exhibition match on Aug. 11. The game, which will not count for either team’s record, will be the first game of its caliber played in the Flathead Valley, which is two hours from the nearest college soccer program in Missoula.
“My main motivation is that I, along with the other individuals who run the local teams, am trying to grow the game of soccer here in the Valley. We’re arguably only 40 years old in comparison to track and baseball which have 100 years of history,” said O’Brien Byrd, the boys soccer coach at Columbia Falls High School and organizer of the exhibition. “We’ve brought college teams here to play exhibition in the past, but never programs of this caliber and with so many connections to the Valley.”
People are also reading…
In recent years there has been a pipeline of top-tier players taking their soccer talents from Flathead Valley pitches to the the Griz.
Former Columbia Falls star Josie Windauer caught the eye of former Griz coach Mark Plakorus and his replacement Chris Citowicki with her record-setting stats sheet that included scoring 33 goals her senior season and earning three all-state selections. Despite starting her college career during the COVID-19 pandemic, she earned a lot of playing time during her freshman and sophomore campaigns. Possibly more importantly, she elevated the possibilities available for local athletes and drew collegiate attention to the Flathead Valley.
Montana freshman Josie Windauer, from Columbia Falls, chases the ball during the Grizzlies’ game against South Carolina in the first round of the NCAA women’s soccer tournament April 28, 2021 in Wilson, South Carolina. Their season came to a close with a 1-0 loss.
The fall of 2021, Windauer was joined by Flathead High School graduate Skyleigh Thompson, an electric athlete for the Bravettes who also earned three straight all-state recognitions and was the Class AA Western Conference player of the year after leading the state in goals and assists. Citowicki took note of her during soccer camps at UM and praised her ability to find the net.
