Griz soccer team opens Big Sky play Friday
9/28/2011 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Sept. 28, 2011
The University of Montana soccer team will begin its short, four-week Big Sky Conference crucible Friday when the Grizzlies host Eastern Washington in the league opener for both teams. Montana will play one of its final non-conference matches of the season Sunday when the Grizzlies travel to Spokane, Wash., to face Gonzaga.
Montana (3-6-1) and Eastern Washington (1-7-0) will meet at 3 p.m. Friday at South Campus Stadium. The Grizzlies and Bulldogs (5-4-0) will play at 2 p.m. (MT) Sunday at the Gonzaga Soccer Field.
Coverage: Friday's match can be followed via live stats or free live video. Both services will be available through GoGriz.com. The link to GameTracker is available on the soccer schedule page. Video will be available through the site's All-Access page.
Calling the match will be Shaun Radley and former Griz player MacKenzie Murphy.
Sunday's match at Gonzaga can be followed by live stats (free) or video (pay-per-view) options through GoZags.com.
Seven matches, four weekends: In the most compressed of the Big Sky Conference's team sports seasons, the league will determine the four teams that advance to the Big Sky tournament over the next four weekends, as each league team plays one match against the seven other league teams.
It all begins Friday, with Eastern Washington playing at Montana, Weber State playing at Idaho State, Portland State playing at Sacramento State and Northern Arizona playing at Northern Colorado.
The non-conference season has not provided much of an answer to who the four teams left standing on Sunday, Oct. 23, will be. No Big Sky team has more than four wins, and all eight have at least one win to their credit.
Portland State (4-6-0), Sacramento State (4-6-0) and Northern Colorado (3-5-2) have the best winning percentages to date.
Preseason league favorite Northern Arizona is 1-7-3.
"No one in the Big Sky is head and shoulders above anybody else, so everybody is going to have a shot to do something well and get into the conference tournament," UM coach Mark Plakorus said.
"Everyone hoped to find their rhythm during the non-conference, but the great thing about going into your conference season is that everyone is starting over. No matter if you've done great or you've had a poor non-conference, everybody starts at the same spot: 0-0.
"You never know what's going to happen, because there are a lot of rivalries and there is so much riding on the games. The emotion and intensity ratchet up a bit, and that makes for a very unpredictable set of games."
What they are all playing for: The top four teams in the standings after the final date of league matches on Oct. 23 will advance to the Big Sky Conference tournament, which will be held at the home of the regular-season champion the first weekend of November.
The Big Sky's coaches voted to have a weekend free of league games the final weekend of October to better prepare their teams for the tournament. Three of the eight teams - Montana, Eastern Washington and Northern Colorado - opted to schedule a single non-conference match that weekend.
The Grizzlies will play at Seattle University on Friday, Oct. 28, and UNC will host Nebraska-Omaha the same day. EWU will host Seattle on Sunday, Oct. 30.
Good home start likely the key to the postseason: Montana will play four of its seven Big Sky matches at home this season, including its first three. After hosting Eastern Washington Friday, the Grizzlies will face Sacramento State and Portland State at South Campus Stadium Friday and Sunday, Oct. 7 and 9.
Montana will play at Weber State and Idaho State Thursday and Saturday, Oct. 13 and 15, then finish its league matches Friday and Sunday, Oct. 21 and 23, with a home match against Northern Arizona and a road match at Northern Colorado.
At a glance: Montana is 3-6-1. ... The Grizzlies snapped a five-match losing streak with a 4-4 draw at Southern Utah last Thursday, then lost 3-2 at Utah Valley Saturday. ... Junior Erin Craig scored three goals and assisted on the fourth against SUU as Montana rallied back from a 4-1 halftime deficit. ... The three-goal rally was the largest deficit overcome to earn at least a draw in program history.
Eastern Washington is 1-7-0. ... The Eagles opened the season with six straight losses, getting outscored 18 to 6. Two of those losses came to teams Montana had three wins against: Boise State and Wyoming. Eastern Washington lost to both by 2-1 scores. ... EWU had an easy 4-0 win at home over Evergreen State for its lone win and most recently lost at Idaho, 1-0, Sunday.
Gonzaga is 5-4-0. ... The Bulldogs have won five of seven since opening the season with losses to then No. 24 Illinois and Loyola (Chicago). ... Gonzaga defeated Boise State, a team Montana beat twice in double overtime, 1-0, and won at home last Friday against Idaho, 3-0. The Vandals beat the Grizzlies 3-2 earlier this season.
Series histories: Montana leads its series with Eastern Washington 8-5-1, though the Grizzlies only have a 2-2-1 record at home against the Eagles. EWU has bussed back to Cheney after victories its last two trips to Missoula: 2-0 in 2007 and 1-0 in 2009.
Montana and Gonzaga have met at least once every season since the Grizzlies began playing back in 1994. Montana leads the all-time series 12-8, but the series is trending in a negative direction.
Montana won the first 12 meetings, outscoring the Bulldogs 42 to 4. The Zags broke through in 2003 with a 3-2 overtime victory and haven't lost since. Gonzaga has had shutout victories three of the last four meetings.
Something to watch for: Montana has allowed the opening goal in seven of its last eight matches. But outside of the two shutout losses to North Dakota State, the Grizzlies have fought back to at least even the score at some point in the other five matches after falling behind early.
Plakorus puts the responsibility for the trend on his shoulders alone and promises it will be of focal point of his training sessions this week in preparation for the Eagles and Bulldogs.
"I've got to do a better job preparing us defensively for those opportunities that seemingly happen every game," he said. "For one reason or another, the ball is going in the net.
"But it's all about us. It isn't anything that another team is doing that's earth-shattering. I just need to make sure we're prepared to deal with teams as they come at us."
Friday's match to highlight Big Sky's top scorers: Montana junior Erin Craig leads the Big Sky Conference in goals per game at 1.00, with nine through the nine contests she's played (Craig sat out Saturday's loss at Utah Valley).
Ranking second is Eastern Washington freshman forward Cassie Black, who has five goals through eight matches (0.62/g).
Griz to face tough defense Sunday: Gonzaga has allowed 12 goals through nine matches this season. Eight of those goals were given up against Illinois in a 5-1 loss and Washington in a 3-1 loss.
In the Bulldogs' other seven matches, they've had four shutouts and allowed just four goals.
Craig earns high praise: In addition to earning three Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week awards this season, on Tuesday junior Erin Craig was named the top player in the Big Sky Conference by TopDrawerSoccer.com in its top-20 rankings for the league.
Sophomore India Watne was ranked second, with the site declaring, "In the Big Sky, Montana's potent offensive combination of Erin Craig and India Watne make for an effective 1-2 at the top of the list."
Griz among national leaders: Junior Erin Craig's per-game scoring average of 1.00 goals per game is tied for 10th nationally.
Nebraska junior Morgan Marlborough continues to lead the nation with 15 goals through 10 matches.
Sophomore India Watne is tied for ninth nationally at .70 assists per game. She has seven through 10 matches.
Two players lead the nation at 1.00 per game, both with eight assists in eight matches.
Griz notes: A pair of freshmen scored their first collegiate goals last weekend. Allie Simon scored the equalizer in the 87th minute in Thursday's 4-4 draw against Southern Utah, and Brooke Moody scored late in Montana's 3-2 loss at Utah Valley to bring the Griz within a goal. ... Freshman Tyler Adair assisted on Moody's goal, Adair's first since assisting on Montana's season-opening goal against Boise State. ... Montana was shut out twice by North Dakota State this fall. In the Grizzlies' other eight matches, sophomore India Watne has produced either an assist or a goal. ... Junior Erin Craig missed the first match of her career when she sat out Saturday at Utah Valley. ... Junior defender Lauren Costa has played every minute of every match this season. ... Sophomore Courtney Watson (elbow) played 18 minutes at Utah Valley. It was her first action since Montana's 2-1 win over Wyoming on Aug. 21. ... The Grizzlies are 0-2 at home this season, with losses to North Dakota State (4-0) and Utah Valley (2-1) at the Montana Cup.
