Grizzlies, Eagles and a serendipitous September snowstorm

The Montana women's soccer team will wrap up its regular season on Wednesday with a match against Eastern Washington at EWU Soccer Field in Cheney. The match kicks off at 2 p.m. (MT).

The matchup was originally scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 29, on the opening weekend of the Big Sky Conference schedule, but snowy conditions forced the teams to find an agreed-upon makeup date.

And what a perfect conclusion that delay led to.

With every other team in the Big Sky done with its regular-season schedule, Wednesday sets up a delightful winner-takes-all scenario (though the Eagles would be just fine with a tie as well as a win).

"This is what you want, right? The expectation of the athletic department is for us to win titles, so the last day of the season, we're going to go out and try to win a title," said coach Chris Citowicki.

What's at stake: Eastern Washington (9-6-2, 6-1-1 BSC) could have clinched the regular-season title with a win at Sacramento State on Sunday, but the Eagles fell 1-0 to put everything on the line Wednesday.

The Eagles are tied atop the Big Sky standings with 19 points with Sacramento State. The third-place Grizzlies (6-5-6, 5-0-3 BSC) sit one point back with 18.

If the Eagles defeat the Grizzlies or play to a draw, they will win the regular-season title and earn the No. 1 seed to next week's six-team conference tournament in Greeley.

If Montana wins, the Grizzlies will claim their first regular-season championship since 2014 and take the No. 1 seed to Greeley.

The losing team (or Montana in the case of a draw) will be the No. 3 seed next week and miss out on a chance to earn a bye directly to Friday's semifinals. The Hornets are already locked in as the No. 2 seed.

The No. 3 seed will face No. 6 Portland State at noon next Wednesday in Greeley in the first of two quarterfinals and be three wins from tournament glory.

Eastern Washington will be trying to win its second regular-season title in the last three years on Wednesday.

Of course, no matter what happens, both teams will be in Greeley next week, both arriving as title contenders, and that's the hardware that brings with it a trip to the NCAA tournament, so Wednesday is big but ...

"Obviously it's super exciting and a great opportunity. It would be great to come out with a win, but our efforts are focused more on the conference tournament. That's where we need to perform," said junior Taylor Hansen.

In other words, Montana is going to Cheney to return home victorious, but win, lose or draw, a new season opens next week. Those are the most important games of the year.

Would the Grizzlies trade a win on Wednesday for three next week? One hundred times out of 100.

"I hesitate with a young team putting too much pressure on them," said Citowicki. "Show up and execute. Show up and execute like we always do. Don't make anything more of this.

"Just show up and play and we should be fine."

How they got here (Montana): Picked third in the preseason coaches' poll, the Grizzlies go into Wednesday's regular-season finale in third place but with a shot at first.

Montana extended its Big Sky-record winning streak against league opponents to 15 with a draw at Northern Colorado on Sunday.

The Grizzlies went unbeaten in their final seven matches against Big Sky opponents last season. Their 0-0 home draw against Sacramento State on Oct. 18 made it 13 in a row to match Idaho's record from the 2015 and '16 seasons.

The team's 4-0 home victory over Portland State on Sunday, Oct. 20, made it 14 straight without a loss to set a new record.

The Grizzlies went up 1-0 at Northern Colorado on Sunday when Rita Lang scored her third goal in two matches, bending a corner kick directly into the goal.

The Bears answered later in the first half, and the teams would finish with a 1-1 draw on UNC's senior day, one that came with a trifecta of nasty: cold (upper 20s), wind and snow.

"It was something we hadn't faced this season yet," said Hansen. "It was senior day, so they came out with a lot of energy and threw everything they had at us.

"It wasn't our best performance by any means, but we came out with a tie."

It was only the second time this season Montana has taken a lead in a match and not come away with a win. The other team to come back was Wyoming, which scored at 89:58 on a penalty kick to also force a 1-1 draw.

How they got here (Eastern Washington): The Eagles were picked fifth in the preseason coaches' poll but can do no worse than tying for second depending on Wednesday's result.

A win would give the Eagles their third Big Sky title (of some sort) in the last four seasons under underappreciated coach Chad Bodnar, who somehow has never won Big Sky Coach of the Year honors despite building one of the league's top programs.

Eastern Washington won the tournament title in 2016, swept the regular-season and tournament titles in 2017.

(Even with a victory on Wednesday, he probably won't win this year either, not with Sacramento State, under coach Randy Dedini, going into next week's tournament on a Big Sky-record 17-match unbeaten streak. The Hornets were picked seventh in the preseason coaches' poll, so Dedini may already have that honor wrapped up.)

Montana, which has allowed a league-low two goals through eight conference matches, will have to contend with the Big Sky's top offensive on Wednesday. The Eagles had scored 16 goals in its previous six matches before being shut out at Sacramento State on Sunday.

It was Eastern Washington's first Big Sky loss and the Eagles' first setback since falling at home to North Dakota State on Sept. 20.

Montana's last loss came on Sept. 22, 1-0 at Saint Mary's.

Montana notes:

* With an eye on next week, Sunday's draw at Northern Colorado dropped Montana to 1-4-4 all-time in matches (including neutral-site) played at Jackson Stadium in Greeley.

* Rita Lang, who scored twice in the second half against Portland State, made it three goals in 49:56 of actual game time when she scored early in the first half at Northern Colorado.

* The Bears answered back in the 36th minute. It was the first goal allowed by the Grizzlies in more than 483 minutes, dating back to their home match against Idaho State on Oct. 6.

* In league matches, Montana has a Big Sky-leading goals-against average of 0.23. (Eastern Washington ranks second at 0.49, so don't expect a high-scoring shootout on Wednesday. That the teams rank eighth and ninth in saves reveals how solid both are in front of their goalkeepers).

* Junior goalkeeper Claire Howard had her 25th career shutout on Oct. 20 against Portland State. That broke the Montana record and moved her within four of the Big Sky record.

* A win or draw on Wednesday would give Montana its fourth unbeaten season in league in program history. It was previously done by the 1997 (5-0-0), 1999 (6-0-1) and 2014 (8-0-2) Griz teams.

* Going unbeaten hasn't been that rare in the last decade in the Big Sky. Northern Arizona went 6-0-1 in 2010, Portland State 8-0-1 in 2013, Montana 8-0-2 in 2014, Idaho 9-0-1 in 2015 and Sacramento State 5-0-4 this season.

* The last Big Sky team to defeat Montana: Weber State, 2-1 in Ogden on Oct. 7, 2018.

* On their 15-match unbeaten streak against league opponents, the Grizzlies have allowed a total of four goals, never more than one in a match.

Montana-Eastern Washington history:

* The Grizzlies lead the all-time series against the Eagles 14-7-2 ... Montana is 8-5-0 against Eastern Washington in Cheney but the Eagles have won the last two matchups on their home field ... The teams played to a 0-0 draw in Missoula last season ... Nobody on Montana's roster has played in a match in which the Grizzlies defeated the Eagles ... Montana's last win in the series was a 3-2 overtime victory in 2016.

Looking ahead:

* The six-team Big Sky Conference tournament will open next Wednesday in Greeley with a pair of quarterfinal matches.

* No. 6 Portland State will face either Montana or Eastern Washington, the No. 3 seed, at noon. No. 4 Northern Colorado will face No. 5 Northern Arizona at 3 p.m.

* No. 2 Sacramento State awaits the winner of the 3-6 matchup at noon on Friday. The No. 1 seed will face the 4-5 winner at 3 p.m.

* The championship match is scheduled for noon on Sunday, Nov. 10.

* Only twice in the last 11 years has the No. 1 seed won the tournament title, Eastern Washington in 2017, Idaho State in 2012.

Grizzlies, Eagles and a serendipitous September snowstorm

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Players Mentioned

Taylor Hansen

Claire Howard

Rita Lang

University of Montana Athletics