Griz open season Wednesday morning

2016 Prospectus

The Montana soccer team, two seasons removed from its first outright Big Sky Conference title in 14 years, begins a new season Wednesday with its first two practices of the 2016 campaign at South Campus Stadium.

And with a program-defining question hanging overhead: Who are the Grizzlies?

Is Montana, as a program, the team that went unbeaten through league two seasons ago, making it look like Big Sky domination just might become a trend, or are the Grizzlies the team that fell off to a fifth-place finish last fall?

The nature of soccer (in no other sport can a team play so well and still lose, or get outplayed and still sneak out a win) and parity in the Big Sky probably won't ever allow a year-to-year frontrunner, but Montana looked like it might give it a go entering the 2015 season.

But then Hallie Widner was lost to injury. Then Savannah Witt. Then Jamie Simon, all for the season, Witt and Simon for their careers. What could have been year two of the start of something special became a rollercoaster ride of a season, a team that was good but never quite reached great.

But whatever Montana lost to injury last season, the Grizzlies gained in on-field experience, because all those minutes -- and all those experiences -- had to be filled by someone. Usually by someone callow.

So out of struggle comes strength, because there was only one senior, Mackenzie Akins, on last year's team. A full load of 21 letterwinners, 11 of whom have been starters, are back, ready to answer the above two-part question with a collective voice. They believe -- they know -- it's the former.

"We have a lot of players returning, so if we can be healthy and fit, our talent and our ability to play to our highest potential are sitting there for us," said Plakorus, who's dealt with more freak injuries in his first five years at Montana than he did in 12 seasons at Air Force, Iowa, Tulsa and TCU.

"But your health is always a question mark. You don't know what's going to happen."

Removing that from the equation, which is a big assumption with this team's recent history, there are two reasons to feel optimistic about the upcoming season: Montana will have an experienced defense that should be particularly stout and the return of Widner.

First, that defense, which is built around a pair of seniors. Goalkeeper Kailey Norman was second-team All-Big Sky as a sophomore and junior, and should be one of the best in the league as a senior. She enters her final season ranked third in program history with 21 wins. Her 16 shutouts rank second.

Center back Tess Brenneman, who follows the distinguished line of Lauren Costa and Brooke Moody as Plakorus's every-minute-of-every-match center-back warriors, was voted first-team All-Big Sky as a junior. She logged more than 2,000 minutes last season and has started every match the last two years.

It was the same type of up-the-middle foundation the 2014 team was built upon, which is a good sign. That team allowed four goals in 10 regular-season Big Sky matches. "The back line should be the strength of our team. That's the area that should lead us," said Plakorus.

Brenneman will be joined at starting center back by junior Ashlee Pedersen, an uber-athlete who would probably excel at any position on the field. And has started to.

When sophomore Taryn Miller, a 6-foot presence on the back line, replaces Pedersen at center back, it will give Plakorus the freedom to move Pedersen into an attacking position, which he did with her the back half of last season when Montana's offense was in need of a spark.

Pedersen had two goals and two assists the last four matches of the season, including a two-goal performance in Montana's 2-0 victory over Weber State, the 200th win in program history, in a Big Sky tournament quarterfinal match at Moscow, Idaho.

Senior Mary Gintz, who has played every match for Montana the last three seasons and was voted the team's Most Outstanding Defensive Player following last season, will start at outside back, as will junior Chanelle Pederson, who has played every match her first two years as a Grizzly.

Sophomore Raquel Watts, who was an effective substitution last year while playing limited minutes, will provide depth at outside back.

Without Widner, Witt and Simon, who combined to score 12 goals in 2014, Montana not unexpectedly had a seven-goal drop-off last season. A big part of that was the absence of Widner, the 2014 Big Sky Newcomer of the Year, who led Montana with seven goals and 17 points as a freshman.

The Grizzlies got it done by committee last year, with 14 different players scoring at least one goal, but Montana's offense didn't worry opposing coaches. Widner puts fear into them and takes up an entire page of their scouting reports.

She is the straw that will once again stir the drink, and everyone else who goes to goal will be the beneficiary, because even if she's not scoring, she's drawing attention, and that will give her teammates the space -- and confidence, because she's that type of player -- they didn't have last fall.

"We lost Hallie's leadership and competitiveness last year, and just her quality as a player and the threat she provides," said Plakorus. "There are all sorts of things she provides for this team that we didn't have last year. She gives the team a lot of confidence."

Sienna Prince-McPherson, a freshman from Calgary, should join Widner at attacking midfielder, with junior Allie Lucas and sophomores Dani Morris and Ellie Otteson starting up front.

Morris tied Akins for the team lead in goals last fall with four. Otteson, crafty and cunning to Morris' get-out-of-my-way strength, scored three goals. Lucas added two.

Seniors Carlee Bates and Aspen Peifer, junior Charlene Burger and sophomore McKenzie Warren, all midfielders and forwards, each scored a goal last season and should be heard from again in 2016.

Junior Kaitlin Crowell and sophomore Janessa Fowler, who started 18 matches last season and was voted the team's Newcomer of the Year, will vie for the starting defensive midfielder position.

The player roster did not have much turnover after the 2015 season, but Plakorus's staff did. Two new assistant coaches joined the program last winter.

A volunteer assistant for Montana in 2011 and '12, man about town Vijay Dias is in his first year as a fulltime assistant. Micaela Castain, the Pac-12 Player of the Year just three seasons ago at Washington State, is also new to the staff.

"I'm excited about our staff. I like the energy that Vijay and Micaela bring, along with their knowledge and the way they work with the players," said Plakorus. "I liked what I saw between us in the spring and how they fit in with the team."

Montana will be tested early and often in 2016, starting with a trip to West Lafayette, Ind., to open the season against Oakland, an NCAA tournament team a year ago out of the Horizon League, and then Purdue, which got after Montana good last fall at Missoula, winning 3-1.

Montana follows with a road trip to Wyoming and Denver, then it's on to Washington State, which has made the NCAA tournament seven of the last eight years and is five spots out of the top 25 in the preseason NSCAA national poll.

The Grizzlies will make their home debut against Boise State and Gonzaga on Sept. 9 and 11, then wrap up their nonconference schedule with road matches at San Jose State and Fresno State. San Jose State makes it three NCAA tournament teams during the nine-match pre-league portion of the schedule.

"The whole idea of your nonconference schedule is to put your team in a position where you learn the most and grow the most to prepare yourself for conference," said Plakorus. "I think our schedule will do that for us. It's going to be extremely challenging."

The Big Sky schedule opens against defending regular-season champion Idaho at South Campus Stadium on Friday, Sept. 23. It's a delightful matchup, pairing the last two regular-season champions, both of whom went unbeaten through their regular-season league schedules during their title-winning seasons.

Montana will get the Vandals, Idaho State, Weber State, North Dakota and Northern Colorado at home in 2016 after going 1-4 against that quintet on the road in 2015.

The Big Sky tournament, which the top six teams will make -- the top two seeds get byes -- will now be held over five days the first week of November. Two quarterfinals will be played on Wednesday, two semifinals on Friday, the championship match on Sunday.

Montana has advanced to the Big Sky tournament four times in Plakorus's first five seasons, winning the championship in 2011.

The key for Montana, as it increasingly seems to be for a program that can at times feel snake-bitten (now there's an injury the team has yet to suffer), more so than its straight-up talent, is its health.

Injuries hamstrung (okay, not the best choice of words) the 2015 team before the season even got started. If Plakorus's 2016 edition can avoid anything serious, Montana could put up a challenge to match its Big Sky championship from two years ago.

But take any of the key personnel pieces out, and it might be another up-and-down year like last season: a 6-2 loss at Utah Valley, followed two games later by a 1-0 shutout of Iowa, followed four matches later by a frustrating loss at North Dakota. Good at times but also unpredictable.

"If we take care of our business and our health is solid, there is no reason we shouldn't be competing for a Big Sky championship," said Plakorus.

"That's our expectation every year. Whether we're able to do it, that's the unknown, but that's what we work toward every year and what this program has grown into. It's an expectation for us and what we work for every day."

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Mackenzie Akins

Carlee Bates

Tess Brenneman

Charlene Burger

Kaitlin Crowell

Janessa Fowler

Mary Gintz

Allie Lucas

Taryn Miller

Dani Morris

Kailey Norman

Ellie Otteson

Ashlee Pedersen

Chanelle Pederson

Aspen Peifer

Sienna Prince-McPherson

Jamie Simon

McKenzie Warren

Raquel Watts

Hallie Widner

Savannah Witt

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