{"id":598807,"date":"2026-04-12T09:07:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T09:07:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/598807\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T09:07:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T09:07:32","slug":"running-wildcats-at-glacier-park-soccer-showcase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/598807\/","title":{"rendered":"Running Wild(cats) at Glacier Park Soccer Showcase"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was a bit of a Flathead Valley flair Saturday at the Glacier Park College Soccer Showcase, even if the schools had to make a bit of a drive to get here. <\/p>\n

One current and two former Columbia Falls Wildcats made sure the Legends Stadium crowd felt connected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Evergreen State (Wash.) provided the two Columbia Falls alums in Walt Nichols and Finley Sundberg, while Spokane Falls Community College suited up Wildcats senior Jackson Scholz. Carroll College also added some Montana grit to the pitch that saw three games in total.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI just started grinning like I am right now,\u201d Nichols said of when he found out Evergreen State was going to play in Kalispell. \u201cI couldn\u2019t wrap my head around it. It\u2019s just so cool.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI have played at Legends Stadium many times, but I never thought I would be able to come back here with my college team, in front of people I have known for many years and live out my dream of playing college soccer where I grew up,\u201d Sundberg said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The second game of the day featured the three local players as the Geoducks and Sasquatch battled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the 70 minutes, five shots found the back of the net.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nichols had the best chance of the local kids as his shot from just outside the box hit square off the post, but teammate Connor Scanlon slotted the rebound home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely been a growth period over the last year for Evergreen State,\u201d Nichols said. \u201cI feel like individually I performed well. I need to be a little bit more fit and continue to be a leader on the team.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the second half Scholz made his first appearance for the Sasquatch. Scholz is still a high school senior in Columbia Falls, but when the opportunity arose for him to play \u2014 both teams are recruiting him \u2014 he couldn\u2019t say no.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was emailing the coaches, and they asked, \u2018We wanted to know if you would want to play,\u2019 and I said, \u2018Absolutely,\u2019 \u201d Scholz said. \u201cI\u2019d say the experience was a nine (out of 10). I didn\u2019t play as well as I wanted to, otherwise it would be a 10.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was awesome being able to go up against some of my fellow teammates from a few years back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sundberg put in a shift in the midfield and back line for the Geoducks and said the feeling of being back in the Valley was surreal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so excited that for just one soccer weekend I would get to see my mom and grandma and get to see the people I love, in a place that I love,\u201d Sundberg said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nichols shared a similar sentiment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was really just full circle after the first game,\u201d Nichols said. \u201cI could go to the sideline and see all my family, it was just dozens and dozens of people I knew. It\u2019s so full circle, I remember seeing the high schoolers play when I was 10 years old and I didn\u2019t think I would be in this position.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

All three Wildcats were able to share a few moments together on the field after the game, gathering for pictures.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The day opened with the Geoducks battling Carroll and finished with the Saints and Sasquatch squaring off.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Showcase was designed as a way to bring high-level college soccer to Kalispell and the Flathead Valley with hopes of becoming a yearly event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to the three games Saturday, Carroll College is hosting a youth soccer clinic on Sunday at Legends Stadium.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reporter Jon Allen can be reached at 406-758-4426 or [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com\/support.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/a> \u00a0Evergreen State midfielder Walt Nichols (2) takes a shot on goal in the first half against Spokane Falls Community College at the Glacier Park College Soccer Showcase at Legends Stadium on Saturday, April 11. (Casey Kreider\/Daily Inter Lake)
\u00a0Casey Kreider\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/a> \u00a0Evergreen State midfielder Finley Sundberg (22) pushes the ball upfield in the first half against Spokane Falls Community College at the Glacier Park College Soccer Showcase at Legends Stadium on Saturday, April 11. (Casey Kreider\/Daily Inter Lake)
\u00a0Casey Kreider\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/a> \u00a0Evergreen State midfielder Walt Nichols (2) and Columbia Falls High School senior Jackson Scholz (21), who suited up for Spokane Falls Community College, walk upfield during a pause in the action at the Glacier Park College Soccer Showcase at Legends Stadium on Saturday, April 11. (Casey Kreider\/Daily Inter Lake)
\u00a0Casey Kreider\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/a> \u00a0Evergreen State midfielder Walt Nichols (2) defends Spokane Falls Community College’s Angel Reveles (19) in the second half at the Glacier Park College Soccer Showcase at Legends Stadium on Saturday, April 11. (Casey Kreider\/Daily Inter Lake)
\u00a0Casey Kreider\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/a> \u00a0Evergreen State midfielder Walt Nichols (2) talks over a free kick opportunity with teammates Cooper Davis (27) and Kolby Juarez (10) in the first half of a match against Spokane Falls Community College at the Glacier Park College Soccer Showcase at Legends Stadium on Saturday, April 11. (Casey Kreider\/Daily Inter Lake)
\u00a0Casey Kreider\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/a> \u00a0Evergreen State midfielder Finley Sundberg (22) pushes the ball upfield in the first half against Spokane Falls Community College at the Glacier Park College Soccer Showcase at Legends Stadium on Saturday, April 11. (Casey Kreider\/Daily Inter Lake)
\u00a0Casey Kreider\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/a> \u00a0Evergreen State forward Connor Scanlon (8) gets past a Spokane Falls Community College defender for a goal in the first half of a match at the Glacier Park College Soccer Showcase at Legends Stadium on Saturday, April 11. (Casey Kreider\/Daily Inter Lake)
\u00a0Casey Kreider\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/a> \u00a0Evergreen State forward Anthony Diaz (13) pushes the ball upfield in the first half against Spokane Falls Community College at the Glacier Park College Soccer Showcase at Legends Stadium on Saturday, April 11. (Casey Kreider\/Daily Inter Lake)
\u00a0Casey Kreider\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/a> \u00a0Evergreen State forward Connor Scanlon (8) pushes the ball upfield in the second half of a match against Spokane Falls Community College at the Glacier Park College Soccer Showcase at Legends Stadium on Saturday, April 11. (Casey Kreider\/Daily Inter Lake)
\u00a0Casey Kreider\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There was a bit of a Flathead Valley flair Saturday at the Glacier Park College Soccer Showcase, even…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598808,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-598807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}