Griz open road trip with 1-0 win

Friday, October 11

Flagstaff, Ariz.

8 PM (MT)

Montana

5-5-3, 4-0-0BSC

Northern Arizona

5-6-2, 1-2-1BSC

Montana

Northern Arizona

Photo by: © Derek Johnson 2019

10/11/2019 11:42:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana soccer coach Chris Citowicki knew it would take something special if his team was going to walk off the field at Lumberjack Stadium in Flagstaff on Friday night with a result.

The Grizzlies found their inspiration in two unlikely sources and combined it with a goal by Alexa Coyle in the 69th minute and Claire Howard's 22nd career shutout to hand Northern Arizona a 1-0 loss.

The win keeps Montana (5-5-3, 4-0-0 BSC) atop the Big Sky Conference standings and made it 11 straight matches against league opponents without a loss, a streak that dates back more than a year, to Oct. 7, 2018.

It wasn't the place for a freshman on Friday night, not under the lights, not with temperatures hovering in the mid-40s and the NAU Lumberjack wielding his chainsaw on the sideline.

Not with a five-win team on the other bench, one that hadn't lost at home this season.

But Molly Massman is no ordinary freshman. She entered the match in the 28th minute and immediately turned around Montana's fortunes.

"It's a very tough place to play. The band was playing, the chainsaw guy was behind us. It was very intimidating for us the first half and we weren't up for the battle. They are a very direct team and flick everything on, then they try to out-muscle you physically," said Citowicki.

"The kid who changes the game for us is Molly Massman. She comes on midway through the first half and is just outstanding physically."

The teams were still scoreless at the half, but Massman had gotten her team on track. Credit the Montana volleyball team, in town for a match on Saturday afternoon, with giving their fellow Grizzlies the final push they needed.

Leaving its evening practice, Montana arrived at Lumberjack Stadium at halftime. Their coach was thinking they'd stop in, show their support for a few minutes and get back to the team hotel, a visit more perfunctory than passionate.

"We went there not knowing how long we'd stay," said Allison Lawrence. "Maybe give a little bit of energy and watch for a little bit. But then it was so exciting and the Griz had so much momentum.

"We saw their goal and didn't want to miss one more second."

Coyle's goal, her third of the season, the 13th of her career, came at 68:50. Freshman Allie Larsen took a free kick from the right side and dropped it near the penalty spot, where Coyle rose up and headed it past NAU goalkeeper Taryn Benham.

"On nights like this you have to be special to find a result. For us to show up and execute in this environment was just amazing," said Citowicki.

"Another shout-out has to go to our volleyball team, who showed up and pretty much out-cheered the entire stadium. Huge credit to them for being as loud as they were. They gave us the extra push we needed to get the result."

It wasn't as easy as just running out the clock after Coyle scored. Northern Arizona generated a pair of corner kicks in the final 20 minutes and took four of its seven shots on the night.

Howard was there, as she always is, to creep to within two of the Montana record for career shutouts. She saved all three shots the Lumberjacks put on goal on the night.

"She made some unbelievable saves," said Citowicki. "Some of the shots were low and hard to the near post and going through a bunch of bodies. How she sees those is just a miracle.

"It was just a good, solid, 50-50 game. They had their chances at the end, we had the better chances in the first half. It was going to take something special. You have to be very direct. We were and got the result."

The soccer Grizzlies left the field flying high, and just as there had been a transfer of energy from one team to the other during the match, the volleyball Grizzlies took something away as well.

"Our entire team walked out to the bus saying, I've never been more amped for our game tomorrow," said Lawrence. "Watching good competitors do what they do makes you want to put on your jersey and go out there and fight for the Griz as well.

"It gave us a lot of pride. I think they're more ready to play than they would have been had we just put our feet up at the hotel."

Montana's road trip will conclude with a match at Southern Utah (0-12-0, 0-4-0 BSC) on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Cedar City. The Thunderbirds lost to Northern Colorado at home on Friday 3-1.

In other league matches on Friday, Eastern Washington won 3-0 at Idaho State and Idaho and Weber State played to a 1-1 draw in Ogden.