Griz, Air Force Women’s Soccer Teams to Face Off in Columbia Falls Exhibition Match

For University of Montana women’s head soccer coach Chris Citowicki, playing soccer last year at Flip Darling Memorial Field in Columbia Falls felt like something on the “Field of Dreams” spectrum of sports experiences.

For years, Citowicki said that Columbia Falls boys head soccer coach O’Brien Byrd had been in his ear about a college soccer exhibition coming to Columbia Falls. The Griz finally came on board for an exhibition match last year with the Gonzaga Bulldogs and the sold-out game brought an estimated 1,500 people out, and helped affirm to Citowicki that he wants the Flathead Valley to be a preseason destination for his team into the foreseeable future.   

“It’s got this romantic, magical vibe up there. It’s such a unique experience. I don’t think you get that anywhere else, where all of a sudden you’re not just playing a boring exhibition game at a stadium. You’re going somewhere else on the doorstep of Glacier. There’s thousands of people. It’s got such an electric atmosphere to it,” the coach said. “And I don’t think you’d get it anywhere else in the country.”

This year, the Griz will face off against the United States Air Force Academy Falcons on Aug. 3 at Flip Darling Memorial Field in what’s being called the Glacier Park College Soccer Showcase, and organizers are optimistic they can seize on the momentum of last year’s match. Adding to the atmosphere this year is what Byrd called “a really big surprise” to start the game. While he played coy about it, Byrd did share that he expects “a very big Air Force presence” right at kickoff. Tickets for the match start at $10.

New to this year’s exhibition are a pair of soccer clinics taking place at the field the day before the Sunday match. The clinics will be open to all boys and girls soccer players ages 5 to 18, and it will give participants a chance to both showcase their skills in front of college coaches and players, and learn from them, and to also get photos and autographs. Clinic training will be divided by age group. The cost is $50 for one clinic, or $90 for both.

According to Byrd, the underlying mission of this game and the surrounding events, like the clinics, is to inspire local youth to “dream big and play big” by giving them a chance to see top collegiate soccer players in their own backyard.

Byrd has partnered on the game and clinics with Rob Brisendine, who has extensive event management experience, which includes the Bigfork Rodeo. Brisendine’s daughter, Reagan, is a Glacier High grad and a sophomore forward for the Griz women’s soccer team. She’s the latest in a line of Flathead Valley girls soccer players who have gone on to play for the Griz, including Tess Brenneman and Skyleigh Thompson of Flathead High, Josie Windauer of Columbia Falls High and Michele Badilla-Gesek of Whitefish High.

“Our valley is a hotbed of talent, especially in the soccer world,” Byrd said of the high school sports scene in the Flathead.

Part of the appeal for programs like Air Force, and even UM, in coming to the Flathead is the chance to be on the doorstep of Glacier National Park. Byrd said that this year’s visiting team will have a chance to take advantage of outdoor opportunities during their visit, including a Red Bus tour of the park, gondola and zip line rides up at Whitefish Mountain Resort, and fly fishing. Citowicki said that likewise his team plans on getting into the park and taking on some other outdoor, water-based activities.  

The exhibition this year could be a chance for the Griz and Air Force to resolve some unfinished business. The two teams played to a 0-0 tie in early September last year in Colorado Springs.

“I thought they were lights out last year,” Citowicki said of the Falcons. He characterized them as a classic cadet team of hard-working players who are going to give it everything they’ve got.

“They’re a really good team. Very athletic, very dangerous going forward,” he said.

The Griz enter the 2025 season fresh off a 12-win season in which they lost only two games, and tied another five, before falling in penalty kicks to Sacramento State in the Big Sky Conference Championship semifinals.

Citowicki said that his team has aspirations to make it to the NCAA tournament this year, and that he sees the upcoming game in Columbia Falls as a way of starting to emotionally prepare his players — especially those who are beginning their college soccer careers — for the possibility of playing away games in high intensity environments with big crowds and tough opponents.

As for Air Force, the Falcons finished last season 5-10-3, with a five-game losing streak. Prior to their slump in the back half of the season, the Falcons had notched wins against Northern Colorado, California Baptist, Hawaii, Northern Arizona and Nevada.

Air Force Academy and the University of Montana will play on Sunday, Aug. 3 at 7 p.m. at Flip Darling Memorial Field in Columbia Falls. Gates for the game open at 5 p.m.

The Air Force Academy soccer clinic will be Saturday, Aug. 2 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The University of Montana soccer clinic will be Saturday, Aug. 2, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Both clinics will be at Flip Darling Memorial Field.

Click here for more information, including to purchase tickets for the exhibition match, or for the soccer clinics.

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