Griz win with final-minute goal

Playing her first match since the 2014 Big Sky Conference tournament, Hallie Widner, who missed last season with a broken leg, didn't waste any time reestablishing her importance to the Griz soccer team.

With Montana and Alberta locked in a 0-0 tie entering the final minute of regulation in their exhibition match Saturday afternoon at South Campus Stadium in Missoula, Widner showed she doesn't even have to touch the ball to play a role in the outcome of a match.

Chanelle Pederson lofted a ball from 35 yards out that Widner went up to redirect 12 yards in front of goal. She missed, but the indecision she created allowed the untouched ball to skip past Alberta's goalkeeper and inside the right post with 57 seconds left to give the Grizzlies a 1-0 victory.

"Nellie played a fantastic ball that was in just the right place. The goalkeeper didn't know if she should come out or stay in goal," said sixth-year coach Mark Plakorus.

Cassandra Bazzarelli, who made seven saves through the match's first 89 minutes to keep Montana off the scoreboard, hesitated just long enough before deciding to play the ball. Three players converged on the ball, which nobody ended up touching, giving the goal to Pederson.

"Whether Hallie touches it or not, it was her actions that caused the hesitation. She went across the face of the goalkeeper and bothered her, and we get a goal out of it," said Plakorus.

Montana, which finished with a 19-5 advantage in shots and 12-1 edge in corner kicks, sent 25 players onto the field during the match, and almost all of them played 30 or more minutes, with Maddie Vincent, Claire Howard and Kailey Norman splitting time in goal.

"It was a good experience. We got everybody in, and most everybody played at least 30 minutes. It was a chance to get a read on some people," said Plakorus.

"I still think we have a lot of work to do, but this gives me a good picture of a lot of things we need to fine-tune. Alberta was prepared and a very organized team. It taught us a lot of what we have to work on offensively and defensively to get better going into next week."

The area that will need the most attention before Montana opens its season against Oakland next Friday at West Lafayette, Ind., will be its offensive. In particular, turning possession into more dangerous scoring chances.

The Grizzlies limited the Pandas to just a single shot on goal and possessed the ball for a majority of the match, but it took more than 89 minutes to finally find the goal.

"Defensively I thought we did a decent job of organization and forcing turnovers, but I thought offensively we were way too slow with everything we did," said Plakorus. "We got stagnant and were very one-dimensional in trying to break them down.

"We maybe could have gotten some other (goals), but I didn't think we were very sharp in front of goal in the final third. We've been more focused on defending to this point. The offensive part will be the last to come."

Outside of Vincent getting the start in goal for Norman, Plakorus used a starting lineup similar to what he'll likely use next Friday against Oakland. He also got a chance to bring in 14 players off the bench.

Madison Adams, who also hadn't played since 2014, got 42 minutes, and Natalie Hein, who played in just five matches in 2014 and '15 combined, was on the field for 40 minutes, enough time to show off her open-field ball skills.

But it was the return of Widner, first-team All-Big Sky and the league's Newcomer of the Year in 2014, that will be the biggest boost to the team.

She led Montana with seven goals and three assists in its magical 2014 season, when Montana went unbeaten through its Big Sky schedule and hosted the league tournament.

Widner broke her leg just days before the start of the 2015 season, and Montana's offense last fall suffered because of it. The midfielder took a team-high four shots on Saturday, putting two on goal.

"My teammates are my best friends, so it was really good to be back out there with the team," she said. "It was great to see everyone who's been out back out there.

"I thought we did well for our first game. We had to get some kinks out and feel around how it's going to be to play with each other, but we ended up finishing, so that was good."

Montana will face Oakland on Friday at 2 p.m. (MT) in West Lafayette, then play Purdue on Sunday at 11 a.m. (MT).

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Madison Adams

Natalie Hein

Claire Howard

Kailey Norman

Chanelle Pederson

Maddie Vincent

Hallie Widner

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