Columbia Falls underdogs no more
Dale Blickhan during soccer practice recently. (JP Edge photo)
By CHRIS PETERSON
Hungry Horse News
Underdogs no more. For the first time in 17 years, the Columbia Falls boys soccer team is the team to beat heading into the 2022 season.
The Wildcats came within a penalty of kick of taking the state A championship to overtime against the heavily favored Bulldogs last year.
This year the Bulldogs lost most of their key players, while the Wildcats retain almost the entire squad from last year’s runner-up finish, except for senior George Robbins, who graduated.
Head coach O’Brien Byrd expects his team to respond to the challenge of being the No. 1 seed, even though it will be a big adjustment.
The Wildcats return a host of key players including Kai Golan, Dale Blickhan, Ethan Austin, Finley Sundberg, River Wolford and Nico Lang to name a few.
Golan led the team in scoring last year, but this season he’s recovering from a fractured vertebrae he suffered at the end of last season. The powerhouse forward is expected to return after the first two weeks of the season.
Byrd also expects good things from defensive left back Adam Schrader, who has had a fantastic offseason of training and playing in spring leagues.
“He worked extremely hard in the weight room,” Byrd said.
Wolford has become a starter this year and is a box-to-box midfielder without substitution. Byrd noted the position runs about eight or nine miles a game, and Wolford is one of the few players who can pull that off.
The team is very deep, Byrd noted.
“The level won’t drop off at all,” he said.
The program is one of the few teams in the state with a junior varsity and a froshmore squad — it has that many players.
“Our program is growing and bursting at the seams,” he said.
The Wildcats open the season with Hamilton at home Friday at 5 p.m. and then face Loyola Saturday at 1 p.m. The Loyola game will be a rematch of last year’s playoffs and Sacred Heart only graduated four players, so it should be a good game.
Byrd is assisted by Chris Nagel, Cory Pete, Ian Wheeler, Jake Bengston and Kraig Moore. Moore is the froshmore coach.