KALISPELL — Last year, Reagan Brisendine led all of Class AA soccer in the regular season with 33 goals. Following her phenomenal junior season, she committed to the Montana Grizzlies women's soccer program.
"I've been going to their camps for probably six, seven years. I've been to a bunch of their camps before. I mean, I've always loved the Griz," said Brisendine. "Only (Division I) soccer team in Montana, so it's awesome I get to represent them next year."
While excited for the jump to the collegiate level, Brisendine is focused on her final year of high school soccer.
"I'm really excited to see how the season goes," said Brisendine, "because I know this is my last year playing with my friends and at home where my parents can come like five minutes away, so ... I'm going to take it all in."
Brisendine’s high school head coach is only in his first year with the Wolfpack, but from what he’s already seen from her, he knows she has no ceiling.
"I think the sky's the limit, I really do," said Glacier's girls soccer head coach Doug Mello. "I think she could bang up with the college scene and then we're hopeful that maybe in the future she can move forward and play at a professional level."
Mello has over 45 years of coaching experience, primarily at the college level, and knows just how rare and valuable it is to have a player like Brisendine on the team.
"It builds confidence in the rest of your players to watch a player really perform so well," said Mello. "They want to reach those levels at times so they're going to push themselves, and it really makes for the squad to be chemistry-wise good, but also talent-wise better."
When it comes to playing in Missoula in a family-focused culture only a two-hour drive from home, that’s something that played a big factor in Brisendine’s decision.
"They're super family-orientated and I'm like a big family person," said Brisendine. "So knowing that they treat everyone as family and all the whole team is so close to each other, it's just, that's something I really looked for in the school and in a team that I wanted to go to."
