Montana opens Big Sky tournament with Weber State

The Montana soccer team begins its quest for postseason title No. 5 Thursday when the Big Sky Conference tournament opens at Moscow, Idaho. The No. 5 Grizzlies will face No. 4 Weber State at 2 p.m. (MT) at Idaho's Guy Wicks Field.

The five-match tournament opens Thursday at 11 a.m. (MT) when No. 3 Eastern Washington takes on No. 6 Sacramento State.

The winner of that match will face No. 2 Northern Colorado on Friday at 11 a.m. (MT). The Montana-Weber State winner will challenge No. 1 Idaho at 2 p.m. (MT) on Friday.

The semifinal winners will meet at 1 p.m. (MT) on Sunday. The tournament winner will be the Big Sky's representative at the NCAA tournament, which opens Friday, Nov. 13, at campus sites.

Coverage: All five tournament matches will have video streaming through WatchBigSky.com in addition to live stats. Links to all available services can be found on the soccer schedule page at gogriz.com.

The first time around: Eastern Washington easily defeated Sacramento State when the teams met at Cheney, Wash., on Oct. 2. The Eagles led 3-0 before the match was 30 minutes old. The Hornets kept from being shut out with a goal in the 88th minute.

Northern Colorado defeated Sacramento State 2-1 in double overtime at Sacramento on Oct. 16 with a goal in the 110th minute. UNC and Eastern Washington played to a 2-2 draw two weeks ago in Greeley. The Bears scored two first-half goals, the Eagles two second-half goals.

Weber State defeated Montana 1-0 when the teams played in Ogden on Oct. 18. The Wildcats scored in the 27th minute, then withstood a strong second-half push by the Grizzlies.

"We played really well against Weber State. I think it was unfortunate we didn't get a tie. I think that would have been a deserving result," said UM coach Mark Plakorus. "They finished one of the opportunities they got, and their keeper made a save on the best opportunity we had.

"It's always enjoyable to play Weber State, because it's always a good soccer game. Both teams try to keep the ball and move it and create in their attack. It's very purposeful soccer. That's what you want in the conference tournament, to play really good teams and get after it."

The winner of the Grizzlies-Wildcats match will get the Vandals, who have not lost since Sept. 13. Idaho went 9-0-1 through its league schedule. In 10 Big Sky matches, the Vandals recorded six shutouts and allowed just four goals, never more than one in a match.

Idaho defeated Montana 3-1 in Moscow on Oct. 11. The Vandals defeated the Wildcats 1-0 in Ogden in September on the first weekend of league play.

More of the same? Over the previous seven Big Sky tournaments, the host school has won just once: Idaho State's championship in 2012 in a shootout over Montana.

At last year's tournament in Missoula, No. 5 Idaho State knocked off the No. 1 seed and host Grizzlies 2-1 in the semifinals. In fact, both teams that received byes to the semifinals -- Montana and Portland State -- lost their first match. No. 3 Northern Arizona defeated ISU in the championship match.

Don't be surprised if that trend continues this week.

"Any of the six teams in the tournament could win it. I don't think there would be any surprises," said Plakorus. "Each team has some really good players, so the margin between winning and losing is very small. It's even smaller in the tournament environment.

"A lot of it comes down to, does the ball bounce your way? Did you get the breaks? When your special players get an opportunity, did they finish it?"

Big Sky blue bloods: Montana and Weber State have had more success in soccer than any other league program. Both are making their record 14th tournament appearance in the 19-year history of the event.

Montana won the 1997 title, the first year the Big Sky sponsored soccer, then won again in 1999 and 2000. It took until 2011, Plakorus's first season, before the Grizzlies would break through again. Four times Montana has lost in the tournament championship match: 1998, 2003, 2004 and 2012.

Weber State also has four tournament titles. WSU won the 1998 championship, went back-to-back in 2004 and '05, then won again in 2013. Like Montana, the Wildcats have four runner-up finishes.

The Wildcats and Grizzlies are both seeking their fifth championship, which would match Idaho State's league-leading five.

The tale of the tape is equally even: Both have 10-7-4 all-time tournament records. Montana has scored 29 goals while allowing 17. Weber State has scored 28 while allowing 19.

Thursday will be the seventh tournament meeting between Montana and Weber State, which holds a 3-2-1 advantage. In the teams' last tournament matchup, the 2011 championship match at Greeley, Colo., they played to a 1-1 draw, with the Grizzlies winning the shootout 4-3.

Tournament keys for Montana:

1. How does Montana, which has just one senior and starts more underclassmen than upperclassmen, do in the crucible of the tournament environment?

"The biggest thing is we have to handle the environment very well, in terms of our focus, our energy and our composure," said Plakorus. "There are going to be nerves, excitement and energy like crazy. We have to control that and play in a composed manner, while being intense, focused and sharp."

2. It's been a season-long trend: Montana has gotten in a position to score a lot more than it has, but when the moment arrives, the Grizzlies have been half a step slow to react or off with their shots. Montana has just 21 goals this season, well below the 32 the Grizzlies scored last season.

"Certainly we need to finish our chances," said Plakorus. "Even on Friday night against Texas (a 3-0 loss), we created some chances, but we didn't put them away. We have to create opportunities, and we have to put them in the back of the net. We have to be more aggressive and confident in putting them away.

"That's the thing that's been toughest on us this year. We get opportunities and keep asking, How did that not go in? We ask that question a lot, and we shouldn't."

3. Montana has allowed 30 goals this season, 12 more than last fall, but the Grizzlies' defense started tightening up in the back half of the Big Sky schedule.

Montana closed league with back-to-back 1-0 wins over Portland State and Sacramento State, and the Grizzlies allowed one or fewer goals to seven of its last eight league opponents.

"We're a pretty good defensive team, so defensively we have to be sharp," said Plakorus. "We have to keep people in front of us, and we have to defend balls in the air, crosses and set pieces really well.

"If we do all those things, I think we have as good a shot as anybody to come out on top Sunday."

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