UM looks to keep momentum rolling

MONTANA VS. GEORGIA SOUTHERN
Friday, Sept. 1 / 6 p.m. MT / Pullman, Wash.
Video Stream / Live Statistics

MONTANA VS. #14 NEBRASKA
Sunday, Aug. 27 / 11 a.m. MT / Pullman, Wash.
Video Stream / Live Statistics

GRIZ EMBARK ON ROAD TRIP
Fresh off of a pair of victories in the Montana Cup last weekend, the Montana soccer team is playing well and looks to keep it going this weekend in Pullman, Wash. First up is Georgia Southern, a team that features the reigning Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week. Two days later, the Griz will get an even bigger test, facing the Nebraska Huskers of the Big Ten. Nebraska enters the weekend with a sterling 4-0 record and No. 14 national ranking by the NSCAA.

Both matches this weekend can be watched online, for free, through a stream provided by the Pac-12 Network. Live statistics will also be available.

MONTANA AT A GLANCE
Montana enters play this weekend with a 3-1 mark, including back-to-back wins during the Montana Cup. Over those two matches, UM out-scored its opponents 6-1, receiving goals from six different players.
Montana went 9-6-5 in 2016 and tied for third in the Big Sky with a 5-2-3 league record. The No. 4 Grizzlies lost 1-0 to No. 5 Eastern Washington in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament.
UM returned eight starters and 12 letterwinners, including All-Big Sky Conference second-team performers Chanelle Pederson and Hallie Widner. The Griz reached as high as No. 9 in last season's NSCAA Pacific Region rankings.
The Griz returned all but two of its goal scorers from 2016. Overall, UM returned 78.3 percent of its goals scored and total points from 2016, plus 73.9 percent of its assists.
On the flip side, UM had to replace All-Big Sky Conference first-team selection Tess Brenneman and 2016 Big Sky Conference Goalkeeper of the Year Kailey Norman.
UM was picked to finish third out of 11 teams in the Big Sky Conference preseason poll.
UM is led by seventh-year coach Mark Plakorus, who has guided the Grizzlies to five Big Sky tournaments in his first six seasons.
UM has won three Big Sky Conference titles under Plakorus (2011 tournament, 2012 and 2014 regular-season).

SCOUTING GEORGIA SOUTHERN
"From what I've been able to gather, they're a well-coached team that's started out the season pretty well. It's another opponent that we have to be ready for because no one's going to give you anything." – Plakorus on Georgia Southern

Georgia Southern enters the weekend with a 2-1-1 mark, earning decisions in three consecutive contests after a season-opening loss to Florida Gulf Coast. The Eagles have shut out Gardner-Webb and Siena, and tied Kennesaw State.
The Eagles are led offensively by Sarah Price, a 2016 All-Sun Belt first-team selection who was also named to the 2017 preseason first team. Price, a senior, spent her first two seasons at Arkansas.
Lauren Karinshak is the reigning Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week. In three starts, she has yet to allow a goal, recording 12 saves in a double-overtime tie vs. Kennesaw State.
GSU returned five of 11 starters and 17 of 25 letterwinners from 2016. The Eagles went 6-10-1 a year ago.
The Eagles are coached by Brian Dunleavy, who is 30-39-8 in four-plus seasons.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE EAGLES
The Griz and Eagles have never met on the soccer field.

SCOUTING NEBRASKA
"Nebraska's a bit higher level than most of the teams we've played so far. They've played a very challenging schedule and they've done very well. It's a very athletic team and Coach Walker's teams have always been very attack-minded. It's going to be an incredible challenge for us, especially the Sunday game. We have to really reach down in order to compete with them, but it's a fun challenge." – Plakorus on Nebraska

Nebraska enters the weekend with a 4-0-0 record and is ranked No. 14 in this week's NSCAA top-25 poll. The Huskers play Washington State on Friday, prior to their meeting vs. UM on Sunday.
The Huskers have scored three goals in all four games this season, out-scoring their opponents 12-1 overall.
NU has posted wins over Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota and Tulsa.
NU graduated its leading point scorer from 2016, but returned the next five, including Haley Hanson, who scored seven goals.
The Huskers posted an 11-6-5 record in 2016, advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament. They return 18 of 23 letterwinners from that roster.
NU is coached by John Walker, who has posted a 313-146-34 record in 24-plus seasons.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE HUSKERS
Nebraska owns a 2-0-0 record over Montana, beating the Griz in 1994 and 2004. The initial meeting, a 2-1 overtime win for the Huskers, came in UM's inaugural season, just its second-ever match. The two teams also met in 2004, with Nebraska winning 2-1 in Lincoln.

WEEKEND REWIND
After a 1-1 start to the season on the road, Montana opened up its home slate last weekend, defeating both Air Force and San José State.

"I thought it was a very good weekend for us," head coach Mark Plakorus said. "Our team really started to find some consistency, started to get better at the things we've been working on the last couple of weeks. It was definitely a step in the right direction against two very good opponents."

Against the Falcons, UM was paced by its young players, receiving second-half goals from freshmen Kennedy Yost (67th minute) and Raye Burton (85th). Fellow freshman Claire Howard recorded two saves in net for her second shutout of the season.

Against the Spartans, UM opened up a scoring spree, tallying three first-half goals. The Griz ended up winning 4-1 over SJSU, a team that blanked Big Sky preseason favorite Eastern Washington, 3-0, just two days prior.

MILLER NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior defender Taryn Miller was named the Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday.

Miller's defensive play was critical to Montana's wins over Air Force and San José State, with the Griz allowing just one goal over the two matches. In UM's shutout victory over Air Force, Miller and the Griz defense allowed just two shots on goal. Two days later against the Spartans – who won the 2015 Mountain West championship and played in the NCAA tournament – the Griz held SJSU to one goal in a 4-1 win.

Not limited to defense, though, Miller also scored a goal and tallied an assist in the win. Her goal came in the 71st minute to give UM a three-goal advantage.

OFFENSE HEATING UP
After scoring just one goal during the season's opening weekend – an own goal that helped the Griz beat Boise State – UM's offense looked like an entirely different unit during Week 2. Montana scored six goals in victories over Air Force and San José State, which were scored by six different players.

"You should be getting better every week attacking wise, because that's the hardest part of the game," Plakorus said. "It's something you just have to keep going, keep grinding at. I think we just made a bit more of a conscious effort to be more brave and courageous in the box and be more aggressive going to the goal."

NEXT PLAYER UP
Redshirt freshman Claire Howard has had a strong start to her collegiate career, posting shutouts in two of her first three contests. However, leading 3-1 against San José State last Sunday, she went down with a leg injury that required 10 stitches. In came Maddie Vincent, who recorded two saves and faced five total shots to preserve the win for the Griz.

STARTING THEM YOUNG
Despite returning 12 letterwinners and seven starters from last year's squad, Montana also added 14 newcomers during the offseason.

In total, eight players have made their collegiate debuts so far this season, including four who have earned starts, including Alexa Coyle and Claire Howard who have started all four contests. During the Montana Cup, UM's first three goals were scored by freshmen. Howard, a fellow freshman, has also earned two shutouts in goal.

"It's always good to have talent," Plakorus said. "I think every class that comes through here has come in with the expectation that they have to perform. It's good on them to make sure they did the preparation coming in, and the upperclassmen have done a fantastic job of bringing them into our family and preparing them for our expectations. I'm happy for them, but it's still very early in the season. They've started strong, but they have to find consistency and stay humble."

HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE
The Griz beat Air Force in its home opener on Aug. 25, improving to 3-0-3 over its past six home openers.

That record follows a similar trend overall. Over the past five-plus seasons, Montana has won more than 70 percent of its home matches, going 27-10-7. Montana's next home match will be Sept. 17 against Washington State of the Pac-12.

"Missoula is a great soccer town," Plakorus said. "It has always supported us very well, and we always enjoy playing here in front of our fans."

SEASON-OPENING SUCCESS
With Montana's Aug. 18 win over Boise State (Aug. 18), UM improved to 5-0-2 in season openers under Plakorus. Six of those matchups have been against Mountain West foes, facing Air Force, Boise State and Wyoming twice each. All-time, UM is 12-9-3 in season openers.

PICKED TO FINISH 3RD
The Big Sky Conference announced the 2017 preseason soccer poll on Aug. 7, with Montana picked to finish third out of 11 teams. UM received 76 points in the poll, which was voted on by the league's head coaches.

Eastern Washington, which won the Big Sky tournament as a No. 5 seed in 2016, is the preseason favorite, earning 95 points and eight of the 11 top votes. Northern Arizona was predicted to finish second, receiving 80 points and one first-place vote; EWU beat NAU in last year's championship game. Idaho, the 2016 regular-season champion and last year's preseason favorite, is just behind UM with 75 points and one first-place vote. Northern Colorado was the other school to earn a first place vote, receiving one and 68 total points, for fifth place.

The Griz will face those four teams consecutively in October, with three of the four matchups coming on the road.

LOOK WHO'S BACK
The Griz returned 12 letterwinners from last year's squad, including six players who started three-quarters of its contests or more. That group includes McKenzie Warren and Hallie Widner – who tied for the team lead with four goals apiece – plus a slew of offensive talent. Overall, UM returned 78.3 percent of its goals scored and total points from 2016, plus 73.9 percent of its assists.

CHALLENGING SCHEDULE
Looking at the 2017 schedule, Plakorus believes that this year's slate may be the toughest he's ever assembled.

The Griz began the season with four consecutive matches against teams from the Mountain West (two on the road, two at home), before embarking on the road for three of the next four weekends of non-conference play. During that stretch, UM will face Power-5 opponents Nebraska in Pullman, Wash. (Sept. 3), Iowa in Iowa City (Sept. 8), Oregon in Eugene (Sept. 15) and Washington State in Missoula (Sept. 17).

But the games against the "bigger schools" are exciting for the Griz. In 2015, Montana beat Iowa. In 2016, it took down Purdue on the road. UM has also played Washington State and Missouri to overtime.

"Every game is a lesson, and we've learned a lot about what it takes to get to the next level," Plakorus said.

The variety of teams UM will face will force it to see different styles of play and adapt on the fly. Plakorus also noted that it will challenge his players and make them uncomfortable – in a good way. All of this, ideally, will prepare the Griz for what it will see in the Big Sky Conference, and hopefully in the NCAA tournament down the road.

FILLING THE VOID
The Griz returned the majority of its talent from a year ago, but is looking to fill a few key pieces. Gone from last year's team are starters Tess Brenneman, Mary Gintz and Kailey Norman.

Brenneman was a two-time first-team All-Big Sky conference selection, while Norman was named the 2016 Big Sky Conference Goalkeeper of the Year. Gintz started 59 games for the Griz.

"The one thing you can't stop doing is losing players," Plakorus said. "We had some players who played significant minutes and made a big impact on our team. We'll feel their loss, but there's also players who have been watching them and learning from them. I think the mark of a good program is that you're sad to see the impact players go, but the new players are ready for the opportunity and excited to be the next one up. I have no doubt that we have those girls who are ready to step into those shoes."

BRINGING IN REINFORCEMENT
Joining second-year assistant coach Micaela Castain, Katie Benz was added to the Griz coaching staff over the summer.

Benz's collegiate career at Cal included four trips to the NCAA tournament. Following graduation, she played professionally before getting into coaching in 2016, as volunteer director of operations at the University of Denver. Castain was a standout player at Washington State, leading the Cougars to three NCAA tournament appearances and being named the 2013 Pac-12 Player of the Year and a second-team NSCAA All-American.

"Micaela and Katie are, first of all, two great people," said Plakorus, noting their character, work ethic and drive to be successful. "You look at these two young ladies and nothing came easy for them. They had to work extremely hard and went on to be successful. They're great coaches but great role models as well."

AN OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY
As the only Division-I women's soccer team in the state of Montana, Plakorus takes his job seriously. It's a big flag to carry, but something he enjoys doing.

"It's an unbelievable opportunity," Plakorus said. "As I began my coaching career, I always had my eye on Montana. I thought it was special what this school and these athletics teams mean to this state and this community. To be a Grizzly and run this program and be responsible for it is very special."

SUCCESS IN THE CLASSROOM
A total of 19 student-athletes from the 2016 soccer team earned Academic All-Big Sky Conference recognition in February for obtaining a 3.2 grade-point average or better. The figure was tied for the most in the league.

Of the 19, 13 are on this year's roster, in addition to true freshman Alexa Coyle, who was one of just 49 high school seniors nationally named to the NSCAA High School Scholar All-America Team by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

LOOKING AHEAD
Montana will remain on the road to play challenging competition, facing Iowa and Northern Iowa next weekend, followed by a trip to Oregon and, finally, a home match vs. Washington State (Sept. 17).

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tess Brenneman

Raye Burton

Alexa Coyle

Mary Gintz

Claire Howard

Taryn Miller

Kailey Norman

Chanelle Pederson

Maddie Vincent

McKenzie Warren

Hallie Widner

Kennedy Yost

University of Montana Athletics