Friday, August 7
Columbia Falls, Mont.
8 PM
Montana
vs
Mount Royal (exh)
Photo by: Casandra Evans/University of Montana
Montana to face Mount Royal in exhibition match
8/5/2026 6:09:00 PM | Soccer
The Montana soccer team will play its first and only exhibition match of the preseason on Friday night when it faces Mount Royal at Flip Darling Memorial Field in Columbia Falls.
The match is part of the Glacier Park College Soccer Showcase, which kicks off on Thursday with the Grizzlies hosting a youth clinic from 4 to 5:45 p.m. for boys and girls ages 5-18.
Montana and Mount Royal, which will be traveling from its campus in Calgary for the Showcase, will play at 8 p.m. on Friday, the Grizzlies' third consecutive year playing a preseason match in Columbia Falls.
Montana played Gonzaga in 2024, Air Force last August, the matches jump-starting what would become championship seasons for the Grizzlies.
Mount Royal will then face Gonzaga at 7 p.m. on Saturday to conclude the Showcase.
While it's the third time in Columbia Falls for Montana, it will be Stuart Gore's first experience as the new head coach of the Grizzlies.
"It's a very professional thing to do," Gore said. "You see professional teams hitting their fan base in different locations like this.
"For the non-Montanans, which is 99 percent of our team, it will be a chance to go up and see Columbia Falls and Glacier National Park. It's going to be a neat event."
For the season ahead, it will be Friday's match and not the sightseeing that will be the most important part of the trip.
Montana lost its coach and a bulk of its roster in the offseason. When Gore was hired in early February, when he arrived in Missoula a few days later, he didn't have enough players to field a team.
"We didn't have any spring games because of the roster number, so players haven't played a game since the (Washington NCAA tournament match in November)," he said, "outside of the girls who played for their summer teams.
"For me it's getting 90 minutes under our legs against somebody else. When we play ourselves, both teams know what the other team is trying to do. It can be counterproductive. It will be nice to play a team that is trying to implement what they are trying to do. That will help the flow of the game a bit."
Montana lost to Gonzaga in Columbia Falls in 2024, to Air Force last season and it didn't matter in the big picture. Both Grizzly teams would go on to win Big Sky regular-season championships and 23 matches overall.
"The score is irrelevant," said Gore. "It's getting to see different people in different positions, then seeing how we're gelling and if we can get collectively good moments in the game."
Just six days after Friday's match, Montana will open its regular season when it hosts Bucknell at South Campus Stadium on Thursday, Aug. 13.
The Grizzlies have only one returning starter, senior defender Lucie Rokos, who was named to the Preseason All-Big Sky Conference team on Wednesday, plus four other returning letter-winners.
Gore's first Montana team, 25 deep, has 17 newcomers and two other returners who are in their second season after redshirting in 2025.
"Friday will give us clips where we can show them when we were really good, where we can improve, where we were a bit wobbly, then we can go into the Bucknell game tweaking a few things," said Gore, "pushing what we're good at and tweaking the things we had a little bit of holes in."
The gates for Friday night's match open at 6:30 p.m.
The match is part of the Glacier Park College Soccer Showcase, which kicks off on Thursday with the Grizzlies hosting a youth clinic from 4 to 5:45 p.m. for boys and girls ages 5-18.
Montana and Mount Royal, which will be traveling from its campus in Calgary for the Showcase, will play at 8 p.m. on Friday, the Grizzlies' third consecutive year playing a preseason match in Columbia Falls.
Montana played Gonzaga in 2024, Air Force last August, the matches jump-starting what would become championship seasons for the Grizzlies.
Mount Royal will then face Gonzaga at 7 p.m. on Saturday to conclude the Showcase.
While it's the third time in Columbia Falls for Montana, it will be Stuart Gore's first experience as the new head coach of the Grizzlies.
"It's a very professional thing to do," Gore said. "You see professional teams hitting their fan base in different locations like this.
"For the non-Montanans, which is 99 percent of our team, it will be a chance to go up and see Columbia Falls and Glacier National Park. It's going to be a neat event."
For the season ahead, it will be Friday's match and not the sightseeing that will be the most important part of the trip.
Montana lost its coach and a bulk of its roster in the offseason. When Gore was hired in early February, when he arrived in Missoula a few days later, he didn't have enough players to field a team.
"We didn't have any spring games because of the roster number, so players haven't played a game since the (Washington NCAA tournament match in November)," he said, "outside of the girls who played for their summer teams.
"For me it's getting 90 minutes under our legs against somebody else. When we play ourselves, both teams know what the other team is trying to do. It can be counterproductive. It will be nice to play a team that is trying to implement what they are trying to do. That will help the flow of the game a bit."
Montana lost to Gonzaga in Columbia Falls in 2024, to Air Force last season and it didn't matter in the big picture. Both Grizzly teams would go on to win Big Sky regular-season championships and 23 matches overall.
"The score is irrelevant," said Gore. "It's getting to see different people in different positions, then seeing how we're gelling and if we can get collectively good moments in the game."
Just six days after Friday's match, Montana will open its regular season when it hosts Bucknell at South Campus Stadium on Thursday, Aug. 13.
The Grizzlies have only one returning starter, senior defender Lucie Rokos, who was named to the Preseason All-Big Sky Conference team on Wednesday, plus four other returning letter-winners.
Gore's first Montana team, 25 deep, has 17 newcomers and two other returners who are in their second season after redshirting in 2025.
"Friday will give us clips where we can show them when we were really good, where we can improve, where we were a bit wobbly, then we can go into the Bucknell game tweaking a few things," said Gore, "pushing what we're good at and tweaking the things we had a little bit of holes in."
The gates for Friday night's match open at 6:30 p.m.
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