Sunday, October 20
Missoula, Mont.
Noon
Montana
6-5-5, 5-0-2BSC
4
vs
0
Portland State
4-12-0, 3-4-0BSC
1
2
F
Portland State
0
0
0
Montana
0
4
4
Photo by: © Derek Johnson 2019
Griz roll on Howard’s record-setting day
10/20/2019 5:50:00 PM | Soccer
On a day when even the trick plays were working -- on a day the Montana soccer team had the luxury of even attempting a trick play -- the story wasn't the Grizzlies' four goals or lucky bounces or career firsts or 4-0 victory over Portland State that clinched for the Grizzlies a Big Sky Conference tournament spot.
Instead, as it has been all season -- as it has been the last three years -- it was about the steady, standout play of Claire Howard, who watched the fun on Sunday from a distance as she collected career shutout No. 25 at South Campus Stadium to break the program record of Kailey Norman.
The shutout required Howard to make just a single save to blank the Vikings, which is why she's always been quick to deflect the praise that comes her way. She'll tell anyone who will listen that shutouts are a function of team defending. Being in goal, she just gets an oversized helping of the accolades.
"It's huge praise for everybody who's played in front of me all these seasons. This isn't something I did alone. It started way before I got here with the defensive discipline, and I hope it continues long after," she said. "I'm just grateful to be with such great names in the record book."
Montana entered Sunday's game with just eight goals scored through its first 15 matches, so a 0-0 deadlock against Portland State at the half was no surprise.
But there were hints at what might be coming against a team that played a night game at Northern Colorado on Friday before traveling to Missoula for a midday game on Sunday.
The Grizzlies created four corner kicks in the final 10 minutes of the first half. In the final five minutes they put two shots off the post, first the right, then the left.
The halftime break felt like it came at the wrong time, like it might stop the momentum Montana was creating. Turns out it carried right into the second half.
The Grizzlies scored in the 54th, 56th and 57th minutes to take control, then added a final goal off a trick play in the 78th minute to score their most goals in a match in more than two years and finish off the third unbeaten home season in program history.
It was all enough to have a coach's head spinning. After all, Chris Citowicki has been conditioned to walking a tightrope with his team. Twenty-nine of his first 37 matches leading the Grizzlies before Sunday were draws or one-goal decisions.
Forgive him if he felt out of place.
"Surreal?" he replied, when asked what it was like to watch the second half. "I couldn't believe it. We've been waiting for a game like this, for something like this to happen.
"How many games have we had when it's been 1-0 or 0-0 and we've been unlucky? It all happened to come at the same time, which was nice. Hopefully it's not a fluke and something that stays with us."
That Montana scored four goals and none came from Alexa Coyle may come as a surprise, but not to any of the people in attendance, who saw the Vikings stalk the Grizzlies' leading scorer like they were paparazzi and she was a celebrity making a rare public appearance.
Everywhere she went, they went, often tugging and pulling on her jersey -- two of them, three of them at a time -- in an effort to slow her down.
So Citowicki did what any guardian -- and smart coach -- would do. He kept her hidden, at least on the bench to start the second half.
"Lex is so marked now. Everybody has their game plan built around her. If I just take her out, what are they going to do then?" asked Citowicki.
It's a credit to Montana's depth that the Grizzlies went up 2-0 with Coyle watching from the sideline.
And it was probably justice that it was Rita Lang who broke the deadlock with her second goal of the season at 53:44.
If there was any lasting image from Friday's 0-0 draw with Sacramento State, it was Lang looking heavenward, wondering how she'd been kept out of the goal. She put a shot off the crossbar and just missed connecting on two headers at the far post.
If it was Lang who provided the play's finishing touch, it was Jaden Griggs' hustle that started it.
After Taylor Stoeger lost the ball in a collision near the top of the 18, players from both sides looked at the ball, then the referee, wondering if she was going to call anything, then back at the loose ball.
When no whistle came, it was Griggs who made it first to the ball. She drew the attention of three defenders, which cleared space for Lang, who had only the PSU goalkeeper to beat from the left side after taking the pass from Griggs.
Claire Howard might be the only player in the Big Sky with a chance of stopping Lang in that situation. With Howard at the other end looking on, Lang made it 1-0.
"We kind of had the momentum ending the first half, so we were like, let's roll with it and take it into the second half," she said.
"I kind of took it personally, because I know on Friday I was getting really unlucky. This is my day, it's going to happen. I'm going to put the ball in the back of the net. I did and kept going with it."
It would take just 124 seconds of game clock before it was 2-0.
Avery Adams played a ball forward up the right side to a streaking Taylor Stoeger. With a defender on her left hip, she employed just enough of a hesitation move to get a sliver of daylight and power in her first goal as a Grizzly from 15 yards out.
It was Adams' second assist of the season, the second point of her career.
Both goals were borne of hustle and skill, so it was fitting that something a little lucky would come Montana's way.
In the 57th minute, Caitlin Rogers took a free kick from near midfield. She landed it near the penalty spot, where a Portland State defender was there to head it away.
Except she headed it not out of harm's way but right into the chest of Lang, six yards in front of goal. The momentum of Rogers' kick sent the ball off Lang and into the net, and in a little more than three minutes of game time, it went from 0-0 to Montana holding a commanding 3-0 lead.
Call it lucky if you must. To Lang, it was the result of people being in the right place at the right time.
"We wouldn't have done it if we were all individuals. All of us playing together, all of us investing in one another, is what got us those first two goals, then we kept going after that," she said.
With Montana leading 3-0 and his team taking a free kick from 25 yards out in the 78th minute, Citowicki pulled out a trick play his team had practiced but had been holding in reserve. The time was finally right.
With Allie Larsen and Coyle standing right in front of the ball, their backs to the goal, Taylor Hansen approached to take the free kick.
She stopped just short of the ball, threw her hands up in mock exasperation at the teammates blocking her view of goal, like it was a broken play, then watched as Larsen touched the ball to Coyle, who turned and fired a shot at the goal.
The ball went right to PSU goalkeeper Enya Hernandez. Whether she bobbled it because it came in so hard, or whether it was because it was Coyle or because of the play's misdirection or that it was already 3-0, the fumbled ball was sitting right there for Sami Siems to net her first career goal.
"We had that trick free kick in our back pocket just waiting for a game like this," said Citowicki. "Everything worked out the way it was supposed to today. When the goals started coming, they lost their focus and that was it."
That Howard's historic day was overshadowed by a barrage of memorable goals seemed almost fitting.
With so many fireworks going off at the other end of the field, Howard kept doing her thing on her end, the one she owns, so often to little fanfare. But that's when she can be at her best, when everyone is looking somewhere else.
"She bought into the whole culture change (when I arrived in May 2018) and has helped me push it," said Citowicki. "She influences so much off the field, it's amazing.
"On the field she's amazing. The hardest thing for a goalkeeper is to be on a good team, when sometimes you don't have to do much of anything. Then there is one moment and you'd better be ready. Every time she's called upon, it's another shutout."
It was just the result Montana needed at just the right time. A glance at the Big Sky Conference standings shows the Grizzlies (5-0-2 BSC) on top with 17 points. Then follow Eastern Washington (5-0-1 BSC) with 16 points and Northern Colorado (4-2-2 BSC) with 14.
Montana will close the regular season with a showdown in Greeley next Sunday against the Bears, a matchup of the two teams who met in last year's Big Sky title match.
Three days later, Montana will be in Cheney to face the Eagles in a rescheduled match from last month that was snowed out.
A week after that, the six-team Big Sky tournament opens in Greeley.
"This was an amazing game for us. It gives us so much confidence going forward," said Howard. "We've been outshooting our opponents all season. To see the floodgates finally open is big for us. It gives us a lot of confidence going forward."
As if the Grizzlies needed any more than what they already get by having the program's best goalkeeper in its storied history standing in goal, having their backs.
Instead, as it has been all season -- as it has been the last three years -- it was about the steady, standout play of Claire Howard, who watched the fun on Sunday from a distance as she collected career shutout No. 25 at South Campus Stadium to break the program record of Kailey Norman.
The shutout required Howard to make just a single save to blank the Vikings, which is why she's always been quick to deflect the praise that comes her way. She'll tell anyone who will listen that shutouts are a function of team defending. Being in goal, she just gets an oversized helping of the accolades.
"It's huge praise for everybody who's played in front of me all these seasons. This isn't something I did alone. It started way before I got here with the defensive discipline, and I hope it continues long after," she said. "I'm just grateful to be with such great names in the record book."
Montana entered Sunday's game with just eight goals scored through its first 15 matches, so a 0-0 deadlock against Portland State at the half was no surprise.
But there were hints at what might be coming against a team that played a night game at Northern Colorado on Friday before traveling to Missoula for a midday game on Sunday.
The Grizzlies created four corner kicks in the final 10 minutes of the first half. In the final five minutes they put two shots off the post, first the right, then the left.
The halftime break felt like it came at the wrong time, like it might stop the momentum Montana was creating. Turns out it carried right into the second half.
The Grizzlies scored in the 54th, 56th and 57th minutes to take control, then added a final goal off a trick play in the 78th minute to score their most goals in a match in more than two years and finish off the third unbeaten home season in program history.
It was all enough to have a coach's head spinning. After all, Chris Citowicki has been conditioned to walking a tightrope with his team. Twenty-nine of his first 37 matches leading the Grizzlies before Sunday were draws or one-goal decisions.
Forgive him if he felt out of place.
"Surreal?" he replied, when asked what it was like to watch the second half. "I couldn't believe it. We've been waiting for a game like this, for something like this to happen.
"How many games have we had when it's been 1-0 or 0-0 and we've been unlucky? It all happened to come at the same time, which was nice. Hopefully it's not a fluke and something that stays with us."
That Montana scored four goals and none came from Alexa Coyle may come as a surprise, but not to any of the people in attendance, who saw the Vikings stalk the Grizzlies' leading scorer like they were paparazzi and she was a celebrity making a rare public appearance.
Everywhere she went, they went, often tugging and pulling on her jersey -- two of them, three of them at a time -- in an effort to slow her down.
So Citowicki did what any guardian -- and smart coach -- would do. He kept her hidden, at least on the bench to start the second half.
"Lex is so marked now. Everybody has their game plan built around her. If I just take her out, what are they going to do then?" asked Citowicki.
It's a credit to Montana's depth that the Grizzlies went up 2-0 with Coyle watching from the sideline.
And it was probably justice that it was Rita Lang who broke the deadlock with her second goal of the season at 53:44.
If there was any lasting image from Friday's 0-0 draw with Sacramento State, it was Lang looking heavenward, wondering how she'd been kept out of the goal. She put a shot off the crossbar and just missed connecting on two headers at the far post.
If it was Lang who provided the play's finishing touch, it was Jaden Griggs' hustle that started it.
After Taylor Stoeger lost the ball in a collision near the top of the 18, players from both sides looked at the ball, then the referee, wondering if she was going to call anything, then back at the loose ball.
When no whistle came, it was Griggs who made it first to the ball. She drew the attention of three defenders, which cleared space for Lang, who had only the PSU goalkeeper to beat from the left side after taking the pass from Griggs.
Claire Howard might be the only player in the Big Sky with a chance of stopping Lang in that situation. With Howard at the other end looking on, Lang made it 1-0.
"We kind of had the momentum ending the first half, so we were like, let's roll with it and take it into the second half," she said.
"I kind of took it personally, because I know on Friday I was getting really unlucky. This is my day, it's going to happen. I'm going to put the ball in the back of the net. I did and kept going with it."
It would take just 124 seconds of game clock before it was 2-0.
Avery Adams played a ball forward up the right side to a streaking Taylor Stoeger. With a defender on her left hip, she employed just enough of a hesitation move to get a sliver of daylight and power in her first goal as a Grizzly from 15 yards out.
It was Adams' second assist of the season, the second point of her career.
Both goals were borne of hustle and skill, so it was fitting that something a little lucky would come Montana's way.
In the 57th minute, Caitlin Rogers took a free kick from near midfield. She landed it near the penalty spot, where a Portland State defender was there to head it away.
Except she headed it not out of harm's way but right into the chest of Lang, six yards in front of goal. The momentum of Rogers' kick sent the ball off Lang and into the net, and in a little more than three minutes of game time, it went from 0-0 to Montana holding a commanding 3-0 lead.
Call it lucky if you must. To Lang, it was the result of people being in the right place at the right time.
"We wouldn't have done it if we were all individuals. All of us playing together, all of us investing in one another, is what got us those first two goals, then we kept going after that," she said.
With Montana leading 3-0 and his team taking a free kick from 25 yards out in the 78th minute, Citowicki pulled out a trick play his team had practiced but had been holding in reserve. The time was finally right.
With Allie Larsen and Coyle standing right in front of the ball, their backs to the goal, Taylor Hansen approached to take the free kick.
She stopped just short of the ball, threw her hands up in mock exasperation at the teammates blocking her view of goal, like it was a broken play, then watched as Larsen touched the ball to Coyle, who turned and fired a shot at the goal.
The ball went right to PSU goalkeeper Enya Hernandez. Whether she bobbled it because it came in so hard, or whether it was because it was Coyle or because of the play's misdirection or that it was already 3-0, the fumbled ball was sitting right there for Sami Siems to net her first career goal.
"We had that trick free kick in our back pocket just waiting for a game like this," said Citowicki. "Everything worked out the way it was supposed to today. When the goals started coming, they lost their focus and that was it."
That Howard's historic day was overshadowed by a barrage of memorable goals seemed almost fitting.
With so many fireworks going off at the other end of the field, Howard kept doing her thing on her end, the one she owns, so often to little fanfare. But that's when she can be at her best, when everyone is looking somewhere else.
"She bought into the whole culture change (when I arrived in May 2018) and has helped me push it," said Citowicki. "She influences so much off the field, it's amazing.
"On the field she's amazing. The hardest thing for a goalkeeper is to be on a good team, when sometimes you don't have to do much of anything. Then there is one moment and you'd better be ready. Every time she's called upon, it's another shutout."
It was just the result Montana needed at just the right time. A glance at the Big Sky Conference standings shows the Grizzlies (5-0-2 BSC) on top with 17 points. Then follow Eastern Washington (5-0-1 BSC) with 16 points and Northern Colorado (4-2-2 BSC) with 14.
Montana will close the regular season with a showdown in Greeley next Sunday against the Bears, a matchup of the two teams who met in last year's Big Sky title match.
Three days later, Montana will be in Cheney to face the Eagles in a rescheduled match from last month that was snowed out.
A week after that, the six-team Big Sky tournament opens in Greeley.
"This was an amazing game for us. It gives us so much confidence going forward," said Howard. "We've been outshooting our opponents all season. To see the floodgates finally open is big for us. It gives us a lot of confidence going forward."
As if the Grizzlies needed any more than what they already get by having the program's best goalkeeper in its storied history standing in goal, having their backs.
Team Stats
PSU
UM
Goals
0
4
Shots
7
20
Shots on Goal
1
10
Saves
6
1
Corners
2
5
Fouls
15
14
Scoring Plays
LANG, Rita (2)
Assisted By: GRIGGS, Jaden
GOAL by UM LANG, Rita (FIRST GOAL), Assist by GRIGGS, Jaden, goal number 2 for season.
53:44
STOEGER, Taylor (1)
Assisted By: ADAMS, Avery
GOAL by UM STOEGER, Taylor, Assist by ADAMS, Avery, goal number 1 for season.
55:48
LANG, Rita (3)
Assisted By: ROGERS, Caitlin
GOAL by UM LANG, Rita, Assist by ROGERS, Caitlin, goal number 3 for season.
56:58
SIEMS, Sami (1)
Assisted By: COYLE, Alexa
GOAL by UM SIEMS, Sami, Assist by COYLE, Alexa, goal number 1 for season.
77:27
Game Leaders
Shots
4
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
5
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
D
/ SoccerF
/ Soccer
F
/ Soccer
D
/ Soccer
G
/ Soccer
D
/ Soccer
G
/ Soccer
D
/ SoccerM
/ SoccerF
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