Soccer prepares for initial Big Sky road trip

MONTANA AT IDAHO STATE
Friday, Sept. 29 / 4 p.m. MT / Pocatello, Idaho
Video Stream / Live Statistics

MONTANA AT WEBER STATE
Sunday, Oct. 1 / 12:30 p.m. MT / Ogden, Utah
Video Stream / Pluto TV (channel 235) / Live Statistics

GRIZZLIES CONTINUE LEAGUE PLAY ON THE ROAD
Montana won its conference opener last weekend, a 1-0 decision over southern Utah. It marked the first time since 2014 that the Grizzlies have won their Big Sky opener, which was also the last time Montana won a conference championship, going 8-0-2 that season.

The Grizzlies will look to carry that momentum to this weekend as they hit the road to face Idaho State (Friday at 4 p.m.) and Weber State (Sunday at 12:30 p.m.). Like Southern Utah, which dropped to 1-9 on the year after losing to Montana last Sunday, neither of this week's opponents have strong records, but head coach Mark Plakorus isn't allowing for his team to overlook anybody.

It's never easy in this conference, especially on the road," Plakorus said. "When you get into confer-ence, everybody gets a fresh start. Both of our opponents this past weekend had challenging road trips and now they get a chance to be at home."

Idaho State is 2-8 on the year, but did split last weekend, beating Northern Colorado on the road. Weber State is 1-9 on the year (0-2 BSC) and has lost seven matches in a row.

"It's always a war when we play at Idaho State," Plakorus said. "Their field is a big smaller and tighter, and physical play becomes easier for teams. Weber State, they're always a good team that keeps control of the ball. You have to play good defense against them."

MONTANA AT A GLANCE

Montana enters play this weekend with a 6-4-1 mark, winning its conference opener last weekend over Southern Utah.
Redshirt freshman Claire Howard has posted four shutouts in goal. Overall, UM has gone more than 286 minutes since last allowing a goal.
Six of UM's 11 credited goals have come from freshmen, with five different newcomers accounting for 15 of the team's 29 points (46.9 percent). Alexa Coyle has started all 11 contests, leading the Griz with five points and seven shots on goal, and tying for the team lead with two goals.
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.
UM returned eight starters and 12 letterwinners from its 2016 team, including All-Big Sky Conference second-team performers Chanelle Pederson and Hallie Widner.
UM 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 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 IDAHO STATE

Idaho State enters the weekend with a 2-8 mark, defeating Chicago State in its season opener and Northern Colorado in its most-recent match.
UM and ISU have three common opponents, with ISU losing to Boise State, Utah State and Oregon by a combined score of 7-0. UM went 1-2 against those opponents, defeating Boise State.
ISU has been limited to six goals scored, with five coming in its two wins. Michaela Didericksen and Makena Bambei have two apiece, with Didericksen scoring the game-winning goal in OT vs. Northern Colorado.
Shawna Hennings has started all 10 games in goal, averaging 5.6 saves per game.
The Bengals went 7-13 in 2016, finishing 4-6 in BSC play.
Allison Gibson is in her 11th season at ISU. She is a three-time Big Sky Coach of the Year, winning the 2006 tournament title and finishing runner-up three times.

SERIES VS. THE BENGALS
Montana holds a 12-7-4 advantage over Idaho State, losing just one time in the last nine meetings (5-1-3). Included in that stretch is a 2-0-2 mark in Pocatello. In last year's 2-0 victory, Ashlee Pedersen scored a goal in the 34th minute, assisted by Charlene Burger. Earlier in the half, Hallie Widner was in on an assist. Maddy Emerick (2014), Ellie Otteson (2015) and Widner (twice in 2014) have also scored vs. the Bengals.

SCOUTING WEBER STATE

Weber State enters the weekend with a 1-9 mark, losing seven consecutive matches entering Friday's match vs. Portland State.
WSU has been shutout in its last four matches and seven times overall. One of those was to No. 1 UCLA, a 2-0 loss.
WSU's lone win came on Aug. 25 vs. North Dakota State (1-0).
Kelsi Jones, Morgan Quarnberg and Haley Thomas have accounted for WSU's three goals.
Sydnie Brough (seven starts) and Nikki Pittman (three) have split time in goal.
Sophomore Paige Stevens was named the Big Sky's 2016 Co-Newcomer of the Year. Madison Garlock (second team) and Olivia Glassford (honorable mention) were also recognized after the season.
WSU went 5-10-2 (3-6-1 BSC) in 2016.
Tim Crompton is in his 14th season leading the Wildcats. He has been part of four conference championships, including the 2013 tournament title.

SERIES VS. THE WILDCATS
Montana has a 14-12-2 record all-time against Weber State, winning three of the last four in the series. However, the Wildcats have won five in a row in Ogden, with UM's last win on the road coming in 2006. The Griz won 3-0 in 2016, with Kaitlin Crowell and Janessa Fowler scoring goals. UM also received assists from Ashlee Pedersen and Chanelle Pederson. Hallie Widner scored the game's lone goal in UM's 2014 victory.

WEEKEND REWIND
The Montana Grizzlies opened up Big Sky Conference play last Sunday by defeating Southern Utah, 1-0. Montana took a season-most 19 shots, and it was the 17th that was the difference, when Allie Lucas scored off of a free kick in the 79th minute.

"We work on our set pieces quite a bit," Mark Plakorus said. It's something we have emphasized a bit more this year. Allie got a good knock on it and got it up over the goalkeeper. I'm happy for her; she's been working hard in practice and it was good to see her get something in the game."

With Ashlee Pedersen cutting inside, SUU was whistled for a foul, giving UM a free kick. Janessa Fowler took the kick and perfectly lofted the ball just outside of the six-yard box. With the ball still hanging in the air, Lucas was able to knock it in, past a diving goalkeeper.

"I saw two people go up for the ball and it came down and just landed on my foot and went in," Lucas described. "It was a beautifully placed ball."

Montana's defense was superb, allowing Claire Howard to post her fourth shutout of the season. SUU didn't get its first shot off until the 36th minute and wasn't able to take a single shot on goal all day. In total, the Grizzles out-shot the Thunderbirds 19-3.

DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Grizzlies continue to rely on their defense to win games. They have now posted back-to-back shutouts and have four shutouts on the season. In fact, Montana's last goal allowed came in the fourth minute of a 1-0 loss at Oregon on Sept. 15. Since then, the team has gone more than 286 minutes without allowing a goal.

Out of nation's 332 Division I women's soccer programs, Montana ranks 47th, allowing 0.713 goals per game. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Claire Howard's four shutouts in net rank 40th.

Even more impressive, the Griz defense is excelling despite having to replace 2016 first-team All-Big Sky defender Tess Brenneman and the league's Goalkeeper of the Year, Kailey Norman.

SCORE & WIN
When Montana scores, good things happen. It seems like a simple concept, really, but when looking at the results, one finds an interesting trend. The Grizzlies have scored in six games this season, winning all six. They have been shut out five times, going 0-4-1 in those contests (Montana lost three 1-0 decisions to Power-5 opponents and earned a 0-0 draw with another, Washington State).

In five of the six victories, Montana scored first and never trailed. The exception came at Northern Iowa (Sept. 10), when the Grizzlies scored twice during a 113-second period in the second half to knock off a previously undefeated UNI squad that hadn't allowed a goal through six games.

FOCUSING ON DANGEROUS LOOKS
Montana, at times this season, has struggled to put the ball in the back of the net. Prior to Allie Lucas' goal in the 79th minute of last week's win over Southern Utah, the Grizzlies had been held scoreless for more than 311 minutes. Part of that is tough competition – during that span, Montana faced a pair of Pac-12 teams, earning a draw with Washington State. But part of it is being able to find good looks and take advantage of them.

The Grizzlies are getting shots off, averaging 12.5 over the past four games including a season-most 19 against Southern Utah. But Mark Plakorus believes they can be more dangerous.

"With the opponents we played in the non-conference portion, you're not going to get a lot of opportunities," Plakorus said. "You'll get three, maybe four chances to score. We're hoping to generate a few more opportunities in conference, and hopefully create more dangerous looks that will allow us to finish them."

STARTING THEM YOUNG
Despite returning 12 letterwinners and seven starters from last year's squad, Montana also added 14 newcomers during the offseason. The young players are making names for themselves early:

Eight players have made their collegiate debuts this season, including six who have earned starts.
Alexa Coyle and Claire Howard have started all 11 contests for the Griz. Coyle is the team leader for points (5) and shots on goal (7) while Howard has posted four shutouts in net.
Six of UM's 11 credited goals scored have come by freshmen, in addition to nearly half (15 of 33) of the team's total points.
In its Sept. 10 win at Northern Iowa, both of UM's goals and both assists were credited to freshmen. Rita Lang scored her first collegiate goal (assisted by Coyle). Lang received the assist for Raye Burton's game-winning goal.
During the Montana Cup (Aug. 25-27), UM's first three goals were scored by freshmen.

"It's always good to have talent," Mark 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 prepa-ration 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."

LOOKING AHEAD
Big Sky action will continue next weekend, with the Grizzlies returning home to host Sacramento State (Friday, Oct. 6) and Northern Arizona (Sunday, Oct. 8). Entering the second week of conference play, the Hornets are 0-0-2 (5-4-2 overall), while the Lumberjacks are 1-1 (6-5 overall).

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Players Mentioned

Tess Brenneman

Charlene Burger

Raye Burton

Alexa Coyle

Kaitlin Crowell

Maddy Emerick

Janessa Fowler

Claire Howard

Rita Lang

Allie Lucas

Kailey Norman

Ellie Otteson

Ashlee Pedersen

Chanelle Pederson

Hallie Widner

University of Montana Athletics