Griz host pair of matches with plenty at stake
10/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
The Montana soccer team, sitting in first place in the Big Sky Conference with two weekends of regular-season matches remaining, will host North Dakota and Northern Colorado this week at South Campus Stadium as the Grizzlies play their final regular-season home matches.
Montana will face North Dakota Friday at 3 p.m. and Northern Colorado Sunday at noon.If you go: Friday's match is part of the Can the Cats food drive and SAAC toiletries drive. Fans who bring five or more cans of food or two or more new toiletries get in free of charge. Students who attend the game will be entered into a contest to win $100, and there will be drawings for various gift cards.
At a glance: Montana (9-5-2, 5-0-2 BSC) continues to sit alone atop the Big Sky standings. The Grizzlies, who have 17 points (three for a win, one for a tie) have a three-point lead on both Portland State and Idaho, two teams who have just two matches remaining. Montana has three left.
North Dakota (1-12-1, 0-7-0 BSC) is alone at the bottom of the Big Sky standings. UND has scored just one goal in seven league matches and has been outscored this season 37-6. North Dakota's lone win was a 3-0 victory at Chicago State in the second match of the season.(Just for fun: Chicago State (1-12-1) has one win this season, 4-1 over Arkansas-Pine Bluff (2-16-0). The Golden Lions' lone Division I win was 4-1 over Alcorn State, which hasn't beaten anybody this year while getting outscored 48-3. That makes ASU the end of the line. But we digress.)
Northern Colorado (8-7-2, 3-3-1 BSC) is tied for seventh with Idaho State, which is not the place to be when the Big Sky has a six-team postseason tournament. The Bears' last three results were of the stomach-punch variety that likely have kept coach Tim Barrera up at night (more specifics below).Four Storylines for UND/UNC
1. Regardless of what anyone else does, with two wins in its last three matches, Montana would clinch the outright Big Sky Conference regular-season championship and host the program's first tournament since 2000.With a win over North Dakota and some other favorable results, the Grizzlies could clinch at least a share of the regular-season title by Friday afternoon.
At the same time, Montana has not even assured itself a spot in the six-team conference tournament, so there is still a lot of soccer left to be played."We haven't met any of our goals yet, so we'll just try to go one game at a time and focus on what we have to do to perform in that game. When everything is said and done, then we'll look and see if it was good enough," said UM coach Mark Plakorus.
"Sure we want to make the tournament, but we have to focus on the steps we have to take along the way. You can't skip any steps or get too far ahead of yourself."2. Montana hosts last-place North Dakota Friday, which could normally be unsettling for a coach. Will his team overlook the match? Will his players not prepare as fully as they would if it was a higher-ranked opponent? If his team gets up in the match, will it ease up?
For Plakorus maybe the best thing that could have happened to his team was its 2-2 draw at Southern Utah on Sunday. With plenty to gain in the standings with a win, Montana jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the second half, then let up and allowed the Thunderbirds to rally for the tie."Last week we learned that the level we want to play at has to be our standard all the time, even when we get up on a team. Having gone through that on Sunday and learning that lesson, I think the girls will be ready to apply it this weekend," he said.
3. The seventh-place standing doesn't reflect it, but Northern Colorado is one of the top teams in the Big Sky. The Bears were 3-1-0 and rolling until three straight matches of heartbreak hit.On Oct. 12, a sure deadlock and point in the standings turned into a loss when Northern Arizona scored in the 110th minute of the Lumberjacks' 1-0 victory.
Five days later a 1-0 victory became a 1-1 draw with Portland State when the Vikings scored in the 86th minute. On Sunday Sacramento State scored in the 87th minute to win 1-0 over the Bears.Which is why Northern Colorado is heading to the Northwest this week needing wins.
"They could very easily be sitting at five or six wins. They are a very dangerous team that is going to be hungry to get results in both of their matches this week," said Plakorus. "It's going to be a challenge for us."4. Sunday will be Senior Day for fifth-year senior Ashley Robertson and fourth-year seniors Tyler Adair, Brooke Moody, Allie Simon, Chloe Torres and Paytyn Wheeler. Theirs is an interesting story.
Robertson was a redshirt freshman in 2010 in what was the former coaching staff's final season. Moody, Simon and Wheeler were recruited by that same staff. Adair and Torres were Plakorus's signees.They had different starting points, but they all came together for the same goal.
"Four of them went through a coaching change, and there were a lot of unknowns and doubt for them. Ashley was part of the initial buy-in, and when the other five got here, they decided they wanted to be great," said Plakorus.The 2011 season ended with a trip to the NCAA tournament, the program's first since 2000. The next year resulted in a share of the Big Sky Conference regular-season title. Montana missed the postseason in 2013. As for 2014? It's still being written, but it's looking like a special sendoff.
"They've been a very big part of the success we've had the last four years," added Plakorus. "Above that, they've been a very special group in how they've represented this program on the field and in the classroom and in the community. They've done a lot to put our program at a very high level."They absolutely love being Montana Grizzlies. It means the world to them. They are proud of it, and that shows in their everyday actions. It's a pretty special group. I'm lucky to have had them on my team."
Scheduling note: No matter which school hosts the Big Sky tournament, the schedule won't change. On Thursday, Nov. 6, the No. 3 seed will face the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed will face the No. 5 seed.On Friday, Nov. 7, the No. 2 seed will play the winner of Thursday's first quarterfinal, followed by the No. 1 seed and host facing the winner of the second quarterfinal. The semifinal winners will play on Sunday, Nov. 9, in the championship match, with the winner advancing to the NCAA tournament.
Big Sky Conference standings:Montana: 5-0-2 (17) / 9-5-2
Portland State: 4-2-2 (14) / 7-5-4
Idaho: 4-2-2 (14) / 4-11-2
Eastern Washington: 4-3-0 (12) / 7-6-0
Northern Arizona: 3-2-2 (11) / 7-5-3
Southern Utah: 3-2-2 (11) / 6-5-3
Northern Colorado: 3-3-1 (10) / 8-7-2
Idaho State: 3-3-1 (10) / 6-7-1
Sacramento State: 3-5-0 (9) / 8-9-0
Weber State: 2-5-0 (6) / 5-11-0
North Dakota: 0-7-0 (0) / 1-12-1
Friday's matches: UND at UM, UNC at EWU, SUU at ISU, NAU at WSU, UI at SAC
Sunday's matches: UNC at UM, EWU at UND, NAU at ISU, SUU at WSU, UI at PSU
Montana will play at Eastern Washington, Idaho State will play at Weber State, North Dakota will play at Northern Colorado, Southern Utah will play at Northern Arizona, and Sacramento State will play at Portland State. (Idaho is done with league matches after this weekend.)
