Griz soccer continues fight for Big Sky
10/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
The University of Montana women???s soccer team will be on the road playing Big Sky Conference No. 5 Northern Arizona Friday and No. 8 Northern Colorado Sunday. The 3-11-1 Grizzlies are 1-2-1 in the Big Sky, trailing the 7-7-1, (2-2 BSC) Lumberjacks by two points. The Bears are at 4-9-1, and trail Big Sky standings with a record of 0-4.
With its only Big Sky win over Weber State, Montana will be looking to get some valuable wins, worth three points in the standings, in order to end the season in the top four teams that will contest the Big Sky Tournament.??
The conference is currently led by 3-0-1 Eastern Washington, with 10 points.?? With only three games remaining, the Grizzlies (4pts) will need every win possible to pass either Portland State, who defeated the Grizzlies Sunday, or Sacramento State, who finished with a 2-2 tie in Missoula Friday. The two teams are tied for No. 3 with 7 points.?? Since PSU and Sac State play October 30, a win at Northern Arizona would pull the Grizzlies (virtually) into a tie with one of those two teams. ????????????
Northern Arizona will be coming off a 3-0 win at Weber State, a team with which the Grizzlies played to a 2-1 win. The Lumberjack???s well-balanced offense features six players with over six points, an amount held by Grizzly leaders Kaitlyn Heinsohn and Frankie Brady.
Northern Colorado has lost five in a row and will play Montana after playing BSC No. 1 Eastern Washington.
UM Coach Neil Sedgwick said of the UM opponents for the weekend, ???From what we have seen, both teams will be trying to keep the ball down during play. They will not be as deviant in their attack as was Portland State, utilizing more organized plays in their approach, and we will attempt to find an answer for that.
???We have some work to do on the road: to bounce back from a disappointing loss and to move forward in the Big Sky. Yet this is a group that has never shied away from hard work or challenges, playing the BYUs the Portlands, the Minnesotas, of collegiate soccer. This will just be another challenge of that magnitude, and well within our ability as a team.???
Sedgwick explains the nature of competing on the road saying, ???When on the road, we are taken a little out of our comfort zone, our home surroundings, our stadium, and our fans. But we can be more business-like without the distractions of home, which is advantageous at times.??? ??????????????????
Live stats for Friday???s match will be available at http://livestats.prestosports.com/nauathletics/.
