Soccer In Snow & Smoke

Beginning in the 1990s, Mark Cranston has traveled around the world to cheer on the United States men's national team. After first donning an eagle head and wings for a game at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, he's become instantly recognizable as Eagleman, maybe the USMNT's most famous fan. In the first part of a two-part interview on Soccer In Snow & Smoke, Cranston discusses his Montana roots, Eagleman's origin story, and scenes from the transformative 2006 World Cup. Stay tuned for Part 2, releasing later this week!

Grindavik is a tiny fishing town on the southern coast of Iceland. It's also where former Montana soccer players Caitlin Rogers and Mimi Eiden will be living for the next six months after both recently signed contracts to start their professional careers with the town's club team. In this episode of Soccer In Snow & Smoke, Andrew Houghton catches up with Rogers and Eiden just days before they leave for Iceland to talk about becoming professionals and the remarkable coincidence that landed them both at the same club.

In this episode of Soccer In Snow & Smoke, University of Montana business professor Justin Angle joins Andrew Houghton for a wide-ranging conversation about the economic structure of world soccer. What are the financial incentives in a sport with no draft or salary cap? What American sport does it have surprising similarities to? And what's Justin's answer to the eternal question: Will soccer make it in America?

Jay Risser, a youth coach at FC Missoula, joins Andrew Houghton on this edition of Soccer In Snow & Smoke to talk about his playing career as a towering striker at Penn State, the strong soccer culture that's growing in Missoula and around the West, and how best to coach a team of 7- to 10-year-old girls.

On this pre-Christmas episode of Soccer In Snow & Smoke, Andrew Houghton is joined by Ross McMonies, the executive director of the Missoula Strikers club program. Ross talks about growing up in Glasgow, Scotland, amid one of the fiercest rivalries in sports, along with how to come up with a consistent coaching philosophy for a program that has over 300 kids and what's he's thought about the Premier League at midseason.

In this episode of Soccer In Snow & Smoke, Andrew Houghton and Jackson Wagner, the voice of the Montana soccer team, break down the Grizzlies' first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Washington State. Jackson gives his verdict on another successful year for the Griz and how they can build on it going into next season. In the second half of the show, Andrew and Jackson preview the MLS playoffs — including why the best team in the regular season might not be the favorite to win MLS Cup — recap an up-and-down week for the US men's national team, and share their best Carli Lloyd memories.

It's all about the champions in this edition of Soccer In Snow & Smoke, the new podcast from ESPN Missoula Radio. First, Montana head coach Chris Citowicki joins Andrew Houghton and Colter Nuanez as the Griz celebrate their Big Sky tournament championship and prepare for their opening-round NCAA Tournament game against Washington State. All four high school state champions are also represented, with Hellgate players Marcus Anderson and Loren Deskins, Billings West girls coach Rob Zimmerman, Whitefish boys coach John Lacey and Laurel girls coach Tom Maack recapping their journeys to state-title glory.

It's the final weekend of the Big Sky Conference regular season, and Montana soccer still has a shot at the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. Head coach Chris Citowicki and wingback Taylor Hansen came on the Soccer In Snow & Smoke podcast to break down the Grizzlies' massive two games against Weber State and Idaho State, recap the season and talk about the path that Hansen hopes to take from Missoula to professional soccer.

State tournaments start in less than a week, and that means it's time for a prep soccer extravaganza on Soccer In Snow & Smoke, the new soccer podcast from ESPN Missoula. Andrew Houghton is joined by Hellgate girls coach Natalie Hiller-Claridge, Sentinel girls coach Dan Lochridge and Hellgate boys coach Jay Anderson to give you all the knowledge about the high school soccer landscape across the state. How are the brackets starting to shape up? Can the Hellgate and Sentinel girls build off strong seasons? And will Anderson's unbeaten Knights seal the deal on a third-straight state championship?

In this episode of Soccer In Snow & Smoke, the new podcast from ESPN Missoula, Andrew Houghton is joined by two people with unique perspectives on the game. First, TV reporter Adrian Luevano talks about growing up with Mexican heritage in California and how that's shaped his fandom for both countries' national teams. Then, high school soccer coach Liam Pope breaks down his semi-pro playing career in England, his decades-long love of Manchester United and how Cristiano Ronaldo's return to the Red Devils came full circle.

Montana Grizzlies head coach Chris Citowicki has taken the Griz to two NCAA Tournaments in three seasons. In this edition of Soccer in Snow & Smoke, Citowicki joins Andrew Houghton for an in-depth discussion about the Grizzlies' unique 3-5-2 formation, how he recruits to win, where he eventually wants to take the program and much more.

In the debut episode of Soccer in Snow & Smoke, the new soccer podcast from ESPN Missoula, Andrew Houghton welcomes in Jackson Wagner, the voice of Montana Grizzlies soccer, to discuss the first few games of the season. Later in the show, the two cover the impact of Lionel Messi's summer transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, plus a successful summer for the United States men's national team and the early returns from around the European leagues.