Air Force will face Colorado College in the fourth annual City for Champions Cup at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs on Thursday, October 30 at 6 p.m. MT. This match serves as the Falcons’ final regular season game in the Mountain West Conference before they move on to the conference tournament in Boise, Idaho.
The City for Champions Cup began in 2022 and is held at Weidner Field, which can seat up to 8,000 spectators and is also home to the Colorado Springs Switchbacks. The event brings together Colorado College, Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs Sports Corporation, and Switchbacks FC to showcase a matchup between the city’s two NCAA Division I women’s soccer teams. Organizers have extended their partnership for this event through 2029.
Historically, Air Force has played Colorado College 23 times since their first meeting in 1992. The Falcons have a record of four wins, eighteen losses, and one draw overall against the Tigers. In City for Champions Cup matches specifically, Air Force holds a record of one win, one loss, and one draw. The Falcons won the inaugural cup match in 2022 by a score of 1-0.
This season, Air Force has averaged 1.76 goals per game with a total of 30 goals scored. The team has been active offensively with an average of over fourteen shots per game and eleven different players scoring at least once this year. Annika Jost leads the team with nine goals and five assists for a total of twenty-three points and recently recorded a hat trick against San Jose State—earning her Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Defensively, Jordan Dillingham leads with more than thirteen hundred minutes played and scored her first career goal against Northern Colorado. Team captain Samantha Sharp and teammates Raine Komata and Ava Carpentier have contributed significantly in midfield roles.
Several freshmen have made notable contributions this season. AJ Heap scored her first collegiate goal against Northern Colorado; Zahra Friess has added four goals; Sammi Kinoshita recorded two goals against Nevada and was named Mountain West Freshman of the Week; Ellie McCarron has three assists from consistent appearances.
In goal, freshman Trishelle Lopez has started fifteen matches this season with fifty-five saves and two shutouts—including performances that earned her Cadet Athlete of the Week honors as well as Mountain West Freshman of the Week recognition after a shutout win at Wyoming. Veteran goalkeeper Kylie McElroy opened the season with two starts including a shutout against Gonzaga while Sydney Nelms recently made her collegiate debut.
Air Force currently ranks second in the Mountain West Conference behind Boise State after securing their spot in the conference tournament following their win over San Jose State—their first tournament appearance since 2017. Their offensive output places them third in goals scored within their conference standings and seventy-ninth nationally among Division I teams. Assists per game rank fourth within their conference while scoring offense sits eighty-sixth nationally. Individually, Annika Jost is among national leaders for points per game while Kendall Rippley stands out nationally for shot accuracy and game-winning goals.
After Thursday’s match against Colorado College, Air Force will learn its seeding for next week’s Mountain West Conference Championship Tournament scheduled to take place from November 2 to November 8 in Boise.
