Grizzlies drop match, Big Sky standing to PSU
10/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
The University of Montana women???s soccer team suffered a 1-0 loss at home to Portland State Sunday afternoon. The loss would break the tie between the two teams in the Big Sky standings, dropping Montana to 1-2-1 and escalating the Vikings to 2-1-1. The change drops Montana into sixth place, two points behind Northern Arizona (2-2), which the Grizzlies meet on Friday.
A lone Portland State goal was scored in the 18th minute of play, as Frankie Ross received a leading pass from Viking points leader Dolly Enneking, chipping the ball over the head of goalkeeper Grace Harris from 12 yards out. The goal was the second of the season for the junior out of Oakland, Calif.
The Grizzlies stayed strong through the remainder of play, but came up short on numerous scoring opportunities in the second half.
Backup goalkeeper Alex Fisher would play in her fifth game of the year, coming in to relieve Harris for the entire second half. ??
Following play, UM coach Neil Sedgwick said, ???PSU came into today with a half-chance of winning and they took it. We had some good chances and didn???t take ours. That???s frequently what this game comes down to. We did compete today, only fell just short on many offensive attempts.???
In the second half, the Grizzlies were able to get strong crosses into the Portland State danger zone on a regular basis. In addition to frequent crosses, were numerous break-away efforts put in by freshman Erin Craig and sophomore Brandee Marone, none of which would come to fruition for the Grizzlies.??
Portland State (8-6-2) would outshoot the Grizzlies 17-12 for the match. Though the Vikings gained a 3-1 advantage in corner kicks, a strong Grizzly defense was able to repel the Viking efforts.
Of the ineffective offensive efforts by his team, Sedgwick said, ???We will certainly be watching our finishing work when it comes to being better in the box, because that is what it really comes down to in these matches. We can compete in the midfield, it???s a question of if we can defend in our box and finish in theirs.???
In Friday???s 2-2 tie with Sacramento State, both Sac goals resulted from defensive turnovers.?? Sedgwick commended the performance of the Montana back four today, saying, ???Though we weren???t able to make the proper connections in the Portland box, we were definitely solid in the back today.???
Of the improved defensive effort against the Vikings, senior defender Abby Grafft said, ???Some of the lapses that we experienced on Friday were mistakes that can happen to anyone, anywhere on the field. It does become quite a bit more obvious when a defender misses a pass as opposed to a forward because we fall under pressure immediately, but those things do happen. I can???t say that there was anything that we made a big change for today, the team just had better passing as a whole.???
The three time all-conference honorable mention honoree continued, ???We came out and for the first 20 minutes, I thought that it was a game where we were really going to have a big win. They did not come out strong. It was our team that came out with all of the momentum.?? We just can???t let a fluke goal get us down like it did today. We have to be able to bounce back, and we didn???t.?? And those big wins???they are going to come???in these next three games, they will come.???
The Montana squad must now deal with the reality surrounding a few of their preseason goals.?? Sedgwick admits, ???Obviously, with this loss it becomes a stretch mathematically to host the tournament, even with ideal situations around the conference. It now becomes a matter of getting into the conference tournament, only leaving ourselves a chance to host another season.???
The 3-11-1 Grizzlies will play Big Sky Conference number five, Northern Arizona, in Flagstaff on Friday, then travel to meet last place Northern Colorado at home in Greeley Sunday.?? ??????
