Montana soccer program signs two

It's a case of quality out, quality in for the Montana soccer program, which signed a pair of prep athletes to National Letters of Intent over the course of the past week.

The Grizzlies lost just a single senior off last year's team, midfielder Mackenzie Akins, who was honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference as a freshman and sophomore, second team as a junior and senior, and the team's leading scorer last fall with four goals and five assists.

Montana also lost forward Savannah Witt last summer, midfielder Jamie Simon last fall and goalkeeper Jess Henning last month. All had career-ending physical conditions that forced them to give up the sport.

That minimal changeover in roster allowed sixth-year coach Mark Plakorus, who has had classes as large as 13, to focus on quality over quantity this time around.

Joining Montana as freshmen in the fall will be Claire Howard, a 5-foot-7 goalkeeper from Santa Rosa, Calif., and Sienna Prince-McPherson, a 5-foot-8 attacking midfielder from Calgary, Alberta.

"Because we were only expecting to lose Mackenzie, this was never going to be a very large class. Then unfortunately we had a couple more girls have their careers end prematurely," said Plakorus.

"We're not necessarily done with our recruiting, but Claire and Sienna are the two who we identified and definitely wanted, so we are very pleased they are joining us."

Kailey Norman, second-team All-Big Sky Conference as a sophomore and junior, will be a senior in the fall and the favorite to once again win the team's starting goalkeeper position.

And in Plakorus's program, that means, outside of injury, minimal minutes for any backups. Indeed, Norman played 3,733 of a possible 3,923 minutes the last two seasons.

That leaves Plakorus trying to strike a balance between having enough keepers on his roster to foster competition and cover injuries, but not so many that a lengthy list of reserves becomes disengaged because of lack of playing time or practice reps.

"Goalkeeper is a little different than other positions on the field, especially with my philosophy that your starting goalkeeper is your starter," said Plakorus. "If you're second or third string as a field player, you're probably going to play during the year. For goalkeepers, that's not necessarily going to happen, so it's not a position I recruit every year.

"It was a focus this year, so we wanted to make sure we brought in a goalkeeper who could compete with Kailey and (Maddie Vincent) to win the position, and also provide us a future."

Plakorus found what he wanted in the daughter of Ingrid and Tim Howard. No, not that Tim Howard, he of national team fame. This Tim Howard is a regional sales manager, and his daughter won ECNL Northwest region championships in 2013, '14 and '15 with the Santa Rosa United Freeze.

Her club team advanced to the eight-team ECNL National Finals last summer in Richmond, Va.

"What stands out about Claire is her confidence in goal, and her understanding of her role and how she can impact the game," Plakorus said. "She is a very good athlete with really good feet, and she communicates well.

"She has been on very good teams, so she hasn't been under intense amount of pressure all the time, but whenever she was, she was ready to go. She doesn't give away goals. You have to beat her, and that's a good attribute of a goalkeeper."

At Maria Carrillo High, Howard, who also plays basketball for the Pumas, led her team to four North Coast Section championships. She had 18 shutouts in 22 games as a junior, is a three-time first-team North Coast Section selection and was her league's defensive player of the year as a senior.

"When I visited Montana last spring, I knew it was the school for me right when I walked on campus," said Howard, a four-time Academic Scholar Athlete at MCHS and three-time Summa Cum Laude Award recipient. "It had everything I was looking for and was the perfect size.

"The players were so welcoming and made me feel like a part of their team. Plus Mark is someone I can really see myself working with and someone I know will be able to help me raise my game to the next level as well as help me thrive as a student-athlete."

Prince-McPherson is a senior at St. Mary's High School. It was while she was playing for Calgary South West United at a club tournament in Las Vegas that she was first spotted by Plakorus. He confirmed she was a player he wanted on a follow-up trip.

"I went to Calgary a couple of summers ago, and I thought Sienna was even better than she was when I saw her in Las Vegas. Every time I watched her play, she just impressed me more and more," said Plakorus.

"She is a very good athlete and an extremely good soccer player. She is very intelligent, very good with the ball, and she loves to attack. She is going to bring a lot to our team with the qualities she has."

Prince-McPherson is no stranger to success, which she has had on both the soccer field and basketball court (and on the wrestling mat, which is another story for another time).

Playing for Calgary South West United Premiers '98, Prince-McPherson and her teammates took bronze at Canadian club nationals in 2012 and '14 and silver in 2013 and '15. She has won six provincial indoor and outdoor soccer championships.

"I chose to attend the University of Montana because Mark was very kind, patient and respectful to me and my mom, and open to the many questions and concerns we both had about playing (college soccer in the U.S.)," Prince-McPherson said. "He eased some of my anxiety.

"I felt like I could learn many things about myself as a player and a person if I played for a team like Montana."

As an attacking midfielder, Prince-McPherson joins a deep position group, though her 5-foot-8 size will set her apart.

"Another reason I chose Montana came about when I visited campus and had the opportunity to meet the academic support staff and the team. I felt that this would be a great group of teammates to play with and develop friendships with," she said.

"I also love the environment and atmosphere of the campus and student body. Both the city and the campus don't feel overwhelming or too big and impersonal."

Montana, which has won three Big Sky Conference championships in five seasons under Plakorus, will return 20 letterwinners in the fall. The Grizzlies open the 2016 season at Purdue's tournament in West Lafayette, Ind.

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Mackenzie Akins

Jess Henning

Kailey Norman

Jamie Simon

Maddie Vincent

Savannah Witt

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