Griz travel west to face 2016 regular-season champion, tournament winner

MONTANA AT IDAHO
Friday, Sept. Oct. 13 / 8 p.m. MT / Moscow, Idaho
Video Stream / Live Statistics

MONTANA AT EASTERN WASHINGTON
Sunday, Oct. 15 / 2 p.m. MT / Cheney, Wash.
Video Stream / Pluto TV (channel 234) / Live Statistics

GRIZ PREPARE FOR TOUGHEST ROAD TRIP
The Montana soccer team won three consecutive matches early in the season, but considering what's at stake, this past weekend was arguably the team's best stretch of the season. Following a loss at Idaho State and a draw at Weber State, the Grizzlies were sitting at 1-1-1 in conference play and set to face two challenging foes – both ranked ahead of UM in the standings.

First up was a Sacramento State squad that head coach Mark Plakorus compared to his own team. The matchup pitted two evenly matched teams, displayed by the shot total (17-16 in favor of the Hornets) and the score (both teams were scoreless entering the final stretch). Finally, in the 83^rd minute, Montana got on the board with a goal scored by freshman Alexa Coyle – a play that began as a free kick and eventually touched seven different Griz players before finding the back of the net.

Chanelle Pederson took the free kick, which was headed by Ashlee Pedersen and eventually corralled in the opposite corner by Dani Morris. Morris passed it up to Taylor Hansen, who passed it to the middle and back to Raye Burton. Burton one-timed it and floated the ball up, which pulled Sacramento State's goalkeeper out of the box. With the ball still loose, Pedersen did a great job fending off the goalkeeper and crossing the ball back to Coyle, who only had to control the ball in front of an open net.

"I thought we played with a lot of composure today," Plakorus said afterward. "I thought we moved the ball pretty well and used the entire field. That's how attacking is supposed to be. You need an individual person making an individual play within a team concept."

Two days later, Montana faced a Northern Arizona team that entered the weekend leading the league with nine points. On paper, Montana dominated the contest, out-shooting the Lumberjacks 20-7 and taking 15 corner kicks. But thanks to a header goal in the 20^th minute, the Lumberjacks played from ahead for the majoring of the contest.

That changed in the 80^th minute, when the visitors were whistled for a foul in the box, resulting in a successful penalty kick by Janessa Fowler. That sent the game into overtime, and less than seven minute later, the Grizzlies were on the board again, this time for the win.

"Once we tied it, I think it took a lot of pressure off of us," Plakorus said. "Their goalkeeper made some fantastic saves, but we kept attacking and attacking."

Montana had the ball in NAU territory once again, with Taylor Hansen in open space. She passed the ball off to Coyle, who tried to work her way around a defender and from the end line placed a beautiful cross to Ellie Otteson, who headed it in.

"Lex (Alexa Coyle) she worked hard to get to that and played it perfectly," Otteson said about her game-winner. "I couldn't believe it went in; all of my headers lately have been going straight to the keeper. I looked up and it was a great feeling. Our team really pushed hard to come back and win that. We finished strong instead of caving."

Ellie Otteson with the game-winner in overtime!! #FightUniteWin pic.twitter.com/mngMsFs2Hp
— Montana Griz Soccer (@MontanaGrizSOC) October 8, 2017

The six points in the standings helped Montana jump from eighth place to a tie for third place, and every point is crucial in a tight race that features more than half the league with at least nine points. The Grizzlies will get another strong test this weekend, not only because they're on the road, but also for who they're going up against.

Idaho was picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll, a single point behind Montana, and the Vandals earned one first-place vote after winning the 2016 regular-season title. Eastern Washington – last year's tournament champion – was the unanimous favorite, and after a rough start to the season is playing phenomenally of late.

"Any time you go on the road in our conference, it's always difficult," said Plakorus, noting the travel and different playing surfaces – including Idaho's venue being indoors. "Idaho's a team that plays with a lot of confidence. They counter attack us, and we have to defend them well in set pieces; that's what they do, probably better than anyone else in the league. Eastern Washington hasn't lost in the last month and they're scoring a lot of goals. They're very dangerous up front. They come at you and you have to be able to deal with their attack.

"We'll be facing two completely different styles of play in two different playing conditions. We have to play at a high level and be able to adjust well."

MONTANA AT A GLANCE

Montana enters play this weekend with an 8-5-2 mark, one win shy of its 2016 total. UM has earned a result in its past three contests (2-0-1) and is 3-1-1 overall in Big Sky play.
First-year goalkeeper Claire Howard has posted five shutouts in goal. In 15 contests, the Griz have allowed zero or one goal 14 times.
Seven of UM's 15 credited goals have come from freshmen, with five different newcomers accounting for 18 of the team's 42 points (42.9 percent). Alexa Coyle has started all 15 contests, leading the Griz with three goals and seven points.
The Griz returned all but two of its goal scorers from 2016. Overall, UM returned 78.3 percent of its goals scored and total points from 2016, plus 73.9 percent of its assists.
UM returned eight starters and 12 letterwinners from its 2016 team, including All-Big Sky Conference second-team performers Chanelle Pederson and Hallie Widner.
UM went 9-6-5 in 2016 and tied for third in the Big Sky with a 5-2-3 league record. The No. 4 Grizzlies lost 1-0 to No. 5 Eastern Washington in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament.
UM was picked to finish third out of 11 teams in the Big Sky Conference preseason poll.
UM is led by seventh-year coach Mark Plakorus, who has guided the Grizzlies to five Big Sky tournaments in his first six seasons.
UM has won three Big Sky Conference titles under Plakorus (2011 tournament, 2012 and 2014 regular-season).

SCOUTING IDAHO

Idaho enters Friday's contest with a 5-7-2 mark, sitting at 1-3-1 in conference play. Most recently, the Vandals defeated North Dakota, 2-1, on the road.
Four different players have three goals scored, including Kelly Dopke, who is one of three current Vandals who earned All-Big Sky recognition a year ago. Additionally, Bridget Daley also has three goals; she was named the league's offensive player of the week on Sept. 19.
Makayla Presgrave has started all 14 games in net, recording 54 saves and allowing 1.52 goals per game.
Idaho was picked to finish fourth in the Big Sky preseason poll, even earning a first-place vote, but has struggled to begin league play, being out-scored 7-4.
Idaho is coached by Derek Pittman, who is in his third season in Moscow. In 2016, he led the Vandals to a regular-season championship before the team graduated nine seniors.

SERIES VS. THE VANDALS
Montana is 7-7-0 all-time against Idaho, but has lost three in a row in the series. The Grizzlies' last win came in 2014, and their last win in Moscow came in 2005. Current Grizzlies Kaitlin Crowell (2015, assisted by Ashlee Pedersen) and Taryn Miller (2016) have scored vs. the Vandals.

SCOUTING EASTERN WASHINGTON

Eastern Washington enters the weekend with a 10-4-1 mark, including an unbeaten 4-0-1 record in league play. The Eagles are nearly perfect at home, going 7-1-1. [EWU hosts Portland State on Friday, prior to facing Montana on Sunday]
Senior Chloe Williams leads the Eagles with 13 points and six goals (12^th in NCAA). Jenny Chavez has five goals and 10 points. Already the points leader, Williams is one goal away from tying the Big Sky's career record for goals.
Chavez, Williams and three other current Eagles earned All-Big Sky recognition in 2016.
Senior Emily Busselman has allowed just seven goals in net this season, including one in five Big Sky matches. The Eagles lead the league with 0.20 goals-allowed per game in conference action.
EWU played two games in Missoula earlier this season, losing to Air Force and San Jose State (both teams Montana beat). The Eagles began the season 4-4, but have not lost since Sept. 10 vs. Cal State Northridge.
Chad Bodnar is in his third season leading the Eagles. As the No. 4 seed, EWU won the 2016 Big Sky Conference Tournament.

SERIES VS. THE EAGLES
Montana holds a 14-6-1 advantage over Eastern Washington, winning seven in a row before last year's 1-0 loss in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament. In Montana's 2015 overtime victory over EWU, Dani Morris and Allie Lucas scored, with Lucas getting the game-winner in overtime. The Grizzlies also beat EWU in the 2016 regular-season finale, with Ellie Otteson and Ashlee Pedersen scoring.

TEAM WINS
Mark Plakorus was happy to get a pair of wins against Sacramento State and Northern Arizona, but he was especially pleased with the way his team played.

"Once again, our team was the big thing today," Plakorus said after the win over the Lumberjacks. "For the second game in a row, how we played as an entire team was the key to the win. They played incredibly hard for each other, they communicated, they solved problems, they were composed. Even when we got down, we didn't panic; we just kept playing and stayed focused. I was really proud of them."

CORNER UP
Montana had several tremendous opportunities to score in Sunday's 2-1 victory over Northern Arizona. In addition to 20 shots, Montana took 15 corner kicks. The total was the team's most since taking 16 on Sept. 3, 2004 vs. Kent State. Entering Sunday's contest, Montana was averaging 3.2 corner kicks per game through its first 14 matches.

GETTING SHOTS OFF
Montana's offense averaged just 9.9 shots per game through non-conference action, but has upped its average during conference play, taking at least 16 in all five matches and averaging 19.40 during league play. The figure barely trails league-leader Eastern Washington (20.20). Following Montana, the next-highest average is Sacramento State (16.17).

During Big Sky play, Montana is out-shooting its opponents 97 to 44. The Griz have 33 shots on goal, compared to 11 for its opponents – and zero allowed vs. Southern Utah.

DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Grizzlies continue to rely on their defense to win games. They have posted five shutouts on the season, including three in their last six games. During that stretch, Montana went more than 315 consecutive minutes (parts of four games) without allowing a goal.

Out of the nation's 332 Division I women's soccer programs, Montana ranks 45th, allowing 0.79 goals per game (first in the Big Sky). That number is even more impressive during conference play, with Montana allowing just three goals through five games (0.60 per game).

Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Claire Howard's goals-against average ranks among the nation's top-15 percent as well. Even more impressive, the Griz defense is excelling even after having to replace 2016 first-team All-Big Sky defender Tess Brenneman and the league's Goalkeeper of the Year, Kailey Norman.

COYLE & CO. LEADING THE FRESHMEN
Despite returning 12 letterwinners and seven starters from last year's squad, Montana also added 14 newcomers during the offseason. The young players are making names for themselves early, led by Bozeman native Alexa Coyle.

Over the weekend, Coyle had the game-winning goal against Sacramento State and the game-winning assist vs. Northern Arizona. On the year, she leads all Griz players for goals (3) and points (9) and ranks second for shots on goal (10). Coyle is far from the only freshman making an early impact, however:

Eight players have made their collegiate debuts this season, including six who have earned starts. Coyle and Claire Howard have started all 15 contests for the Griz.
Seven of UM's 15 credited goals scored have come by freshmen, in addition to nearly half (18 of 42) of the team's total points.
In its Sept. 10 win at Northern Iowa, both of UM's goals and both assists were credited to freshmen. Rita Lang scored her first collegiate goal (assisted by Coyle). Lang received the assist for Raye Burton's game-winning goal.
During the Montana Cup (Aug. 25-27), UM's first three goals were scored by freshmen.

"It's always good to have talent," Mark Plakorus said in September. "I think every class that comes through here has come in with the expectation that they have to perform. It's good on them to make sure they did the preparation coming in, and the upperclassmen have done a fantastic job of bringing them into our family and preparing them for our expectations. I'm happy for them, but it's still very early in the season. They've started strong, but they have to find consistency and stay humble."

SCORE & WIN
When Montana scores, good things happen. It seems like a simple concept, really, but when looking at the results, one finds an interesting trend. The Grizzlies are unbeaten in the nine games they have scored in (8-0-1). They have been shut out six times, going 0-5-1 in those contests (Montana lost three 1-0 decisions to Power-5 opponents and earned a 0-0 draw with another, Washington State).

HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE
The Griz are unbeaten on its home field this season, recording victories over Air Force, San Jose State, Southern Utah, Sacramento State and Northern Arizona, and a double-overtime draw against Washington State of the Pac-12. Dating back to 2012, Montana has won more than 70 percent of its home matches, going 30-10-8.

"Missoula is a great soccer town," said Mark Plakorus, whose team has played in front of more than 500 fans twice this season. "It has always supported us very well, and we always enjoy playing here in front of our fans."

LOOKING AHEAD
Following this weekend's road trip, Montana will make one more trip during the regular season (at Northern Colorado on Oct. 20). The team will return immediately to host North Dakota two days later (Oct. 22) and Portland State the following weekend (Oct. 27). The Big sky Conference Tournament will take place Nov. 1-5 on the campus of the regular-season champion.

Freshman @ClaireSteffe reveals her celebrity crush in this week's #MeetUMMonday! pic.twitter.com/7llmdEqVTH
— Montana Griz Soccer (@MontanaGrizSOC) October 9, 2017

Griz travel west to face 2016 regular-season champion, tournament winner

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Raye Burton

Alexa Coyle

Kaitlin Crowell

Janessa Fowler

Taylor Hansen

Allie Lucas

Taryn Miller

Dani Morris

Ellie Otteson

Ashlee Pedersen

Chanelle Pederson

University of Montana Athletics

Griz travel west to face 2016 regular-season champion, tournament winner

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Raye Burton

Alexa Coyle

Kaitlin Crowell

Janessa Fowler

Taylor Hansen

Allie Lucas

Taryn Miller

Dani Morris

Ellie Otteson

Ashlee Pedersen

Chanelle Pederson

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