Two more Bulldogs to play college soccer

Widdifield and Grindrod will team up together as Thunderwolves next fall in CO

By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot

Not surprisingly, the college offers keep rolling in for the young men of the undefeated 2007 Whitefish Bulldog soccer team. An unprecedented 30-game win streak and two back-to-back state championships is a nice little accolade to put on an application.

This time, it's seniors Shane Widdifield and Matt Grindrod. They will be teaming up next fall at Colorado State University in Pueblo.

The Thunderwolves are a Division II school, and their soccer program has a winning tradition, according to Bulldog head coach O'Brien Byrd.

"CSU has an awesome program. Widdey and Grinney were both impressed. They trained with the team and felt like they fit in well," he said. "I'm stoked for them."

Grindrod and Widdifield, both All-State selections this season, were both key components of the two championship teams. Grindrod finished with 12 goals and six assists, while Widdifield finished with three goals and 12 assists. Whitefish led the conference in scoring all year.

"Matt played outside-midfielder for me for three years, and he is just a tremendous athlete," Byrd said. "He's great in the air, and he has tremendous dribbling ability. The big thing about him is his work rate. I've had to sub him out of games because he was going to kill himself. I've seen him run goal-post to goal-post four or five times without stopping, that's what kind of engine he has."

Byrd went on to describe Widdifield as a cerebral player.

"He has that little something. Creativity. He's always two or three passes ahead of what's happening in his mind," Byrd said. "He's one of those guys that can make something out of nothing. It will look like there's nothing there, there's too many defenders in the box, and he'll play an unbelievable through-ball to a guy to make something happen. I expect CSU Pueblo to have him in a play-making role eventually."

Byrd said the odds are against his two Bulldogs cracking the starting lineup for the Thunderwolves, as freshmen are usually relegated to a developmental role and upperclassmen get the majority of playing time.

"They are out of control down there, they're really intense," Widdifield said. "They gave us a workout video that we have to follow. It's going to be tough to adapt, but we'll get it done. I'm really excited, we both liked the town and the program a lot. It's going to be lots of fun."

Byrd explained that since both kids will be redshirting, their chances of getting a starting spot are slim.

"They will have to work extremely hard to get even a little bit of playing time as freshman," Byrd said. "It's just such a huge accomplishment for two kids from a small town to be playing together in a respected program like that."

Bulldog assistant coach Ryan Billiet played for the Thunderwolves, so Widdifield and Grindrod were given inside information on the quality of the CSU Pueblo program.

"He vouched for the kids, and we called the coach down there and he handed us two roster spots," Byrd said. "The thing with these two kids is that not only are they good athletes, but they're just nice young men. They are a pleasure to coach and be around. This coach loves players of that caliber."