Griz open title defense on Friday

Friday, November 8

Greeley, Colo.

3 PM

Montana

Northern Colorado

Photo by: © Derek Johnson 2019

11/7/2019 4:36:00 PM | Soccer

PDF Game Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana soccer team, two wins away from repeating as Big Sky Conference tournament champion, will face its first postseason hurdle on Friday at 3 p.m. when it takes on Northern Colorado at UNC's Jackson Stadium in Greeley in the second of two semifinal matches.

The Grizzlies take the top overall seed into the postseason after going 6-0-3 in league to win their seventh regular-season title and extend their Big Sky-record unbeaten streak against league opponents to 16 matches.

Montana has not lost to a Big Sky opponent since dropping a 2-1 decision at Weber State on Oct. 7, 2018. The Grizzlies went unbeaten through their final seven matches (5-0-2) against Big Sky opponents last season and are 6-0-3 this fall.

No. 2 Sacramento State will play No. 3 Eastern Washington at noon on Friday in the first semifinal. The two semifinal winners will square off at noon on Sunday in the Big Sky tournament championship match.

Tournament update: No. 3 Eastern Washington opened the tournament on Wednesday with a 3-0 victory over No. 6 Portland State. The match was scoreless at the half. The Eagles would score in the 55th, 78th and 80th minutes to pull away.

No. 4 Northern Colorado followed with a 2-1 overtime victory over No. 5 Northern Arizona. Also scoreless at the half, the teams traded goals early in the second half to send the game into overtime. Just 3:04 into the first extra session, the Bears won it.

Tournament storylines:

* So we meet again (part 1): It will have been less than two weeks removed from their regular-season matchup on the same field when Montana and Northern Colorado play on Friday.

The teams met on Oct. 27, on a miserable day that had temperatures in the 20s, with snow and wind to add to the unpleasantness.

Montana scored first, in the 14th minute, when Rita Lang used a left-to-right wind to bend a corner kick directly into the goal. The Bears answered in the 36th minute, one of only two goals allowed by the Grizzlies in nine Big Sky matches.

There was no scoring over the final 74 minutes and few opportunities.

The teams' postseason match should be played under sunny skies, with temperatures in the low 60s.

"I'm happy that it won't be 20 degrees, extremely windy and snowing when we play," said second-year coach Chris Citowicki, who moved his record at Montana to .500 (14-14-12) for the first time with his team's victory at Eastern Washington last Wednesday.

"It should allow for it to be an actual, proper game. We'll see who takes their moments and comes out on top."

Northern Colorado has posted just two shutouts this season, compared to nine for Montana, but the Bears have also scored 10 more goals this season than the Grizzlies (24-14).

"Northern Colorado is a strong opponent," said Citowicki. "They move the ball well, they are dangerous in wide areas and can get on the end of crosses once the ball gets into the box.

"Defensively they are organized and work hard to keep teams off the score sheet. Their transition to attack is quick and effective too."

* So we meet again (part 2): This will be the third consecutive season that Montana and Northern Colorado have met in the Big Sky tournament, the fourth time overall.

In each of the first three meetings, the lower seed has come out on top.

The teams' first postseason meeting came in 2011, also in Greeley after the Bears won the regular-season title. No. 4 Montana took out the top seed in the semifinals (when it was a four-team tournament) in a shootout after they played to a 1-1 draw.

In 2017 in Cheney, No. 2 Montana got a bye to the semifinals, only to fall to the No. 3 Bears 2-1 in double overtime. Alexa Coyle put the Grizzlies up 1-0 in the 17th minute, but Northern Colorado rallied back with the equalizer in the 72nd minute, the game-winner in the 104th.

Last November the teams met in the championship match, with both teams getting there from the quarterfinals. Northern Colorado got past Eastern Washington and Idaho, Montana made its way through Northern Arizona and No. 1 seed and host Weber State.

A Coyle goal in the 58th minute was all No. 5 Montana needed to knock off No. 3 Northern Colorado 1-0, the third shutout for the Grizzlies in three matches over five days, all over higher-seeded opponents.

* Of the teams that currently make up the Big Sky Conference, Montana has a winning record against all of them ... except Northern Colorado. The Bears have gone 7-5-5 against the Grizzlies since joining the league in 2006.

Montana is just 1-4-2 against Northern Colorado in Greeley. The Grizzlies' lone win at Jackson Stadium came in 2009, 1-0 in a match the Bears had a 21-6 advantage in shots, though only two of those were put on goal.

* The curse of the No. 1 seed: Over the last 11 years, only twice has the top-seeded team won the tournament championship, and all those years but one were with the No. 1 seed hosting the event.

Idaho State celebrated on its home field in 2012, Eastern Washington in 2017. The Eagles also won the tournament in Cheney in 2016, but that was as the No. 5 seed after Idaho's field was determined unplayable.

* How they got here (Montana): The Grizzlies went unbeaten through league but still needed a victory at Eastern Washington last Wednesday to win the regular-season and earn the No. 1 seed. A tie or loss would have left Montana as the No. 3 seed.

The Grizzlies came through with a 1-0 victory, thanks to Kendall Furrow's header off Avery Adams' corner kick in the 79th minute and Claire Howard's 26th career shutout.

"We kept waiting for that moment and kept defending well and trying to attack in different ways to break them down," said junior forward Alexa Coyle. "We were able to maximize our moment."

Montana won despite taking just five shots, three of which were on goal. Eastern Washington created 13 corner kicks to the Grizzlies' two, but the Eagles only had seven shots, just one on goal.

"We take a lot of pride in the defensive side of our game," said Coyle. "Claire and our back line are amazing, and our whole team takes a lot of pride in defending set pieces.

"For us, we don't get rattled in those situations because we know we can defend them well. We've prepared for it."

Anyone expecting Citowicki to have a cooler full of water dumped on him at the final horn or see the players pile up on the field would have been disappointed.

That's because Citowicki and the Grizzlies are, and always will be, focused on this week, not the regular season. This is the week that is the springboard to the NCAA tournament. That's what matters.

Regular-season trophies? They're nice but nowhere near as important as the one that will be handed out on Sunday afternoon.

"We're excited to be regular season champions, but the tournament is where our focus is and has been. The work is definitely not done," said Coyle.

Citowicki added, "The maturity of this squad, of winning that game and not being too excited says a lot. It's nice to be the No. 1 seed, it's nice to have that bye. But we're still going to show up and work hard like we do every day.

"There is a quiet confidence (compared to last year as the No. 5 seed). This is all we've been working for all year, to get back to this tournament. I fully trust they are going to show up and do what they're supposed to do, and that's all I can ask for. If it falls our way, great."

* How they got here (Northern Colorado): Picked first in the preseason coaches' poll, the Bears opened league 3-0-2 but then lost twice in three matches, 2-0 at Northern Arizona and 1-0 at home to Sacramento State, to fall off the pace of the Big Sky leaders.

Northern Colorado is playing in its seventh consecutive Big Sky tournament. The Bears have played in the title match three of the last four years, topping Idaho in a shootout in 2015 and falling to Eastern Washington in 2017, Montana in 2018.

* Montana is playing in the tournament for the 18th time, for the sixth straight year and for the eighth time in nine seasons. The Grizzlies have a record of 14-10-4 previous tournaments.

Montana is 6-1-0 while playing as the No. 1 seed, though all six of those wins came in 1997, 1999 and 2000, with the Grizzlies outscoring their opponents 17-2 in Missoula.

The only other time Montana was the No. 1 seed was in 2014. The Grizzlies gave up two second-half goals in just over four minutes to fall in the semifinals to No. 5 Idaho State.

* Montana has won five Big Sky tournament titles. The first, in 1997, came before the league had an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Tournament titles that led to four NCAA tournament appearances came in 1999, 2000, 2011 and 2018.

The Grizzlies also have four runner-up finishes (1998, 2003, 2004, 2012).

* Montana (6-0-3) and Sacramento State (5-0-4) both went unbeaten through their league schedules.

The Grizzlies take a 16-match unbeaten streak against league opponents into semifinal Friday, the Hornets a Big Sky-record 17-match unbeaten streak this season, against all opponents. They have not lost since falling in their season opener at UC Davis.

Other undefeated league seasons: Idaho (9-0-1) in 2015, Montana (8-0-2) in 2014, Portland State (8-0-1) in 2013, Northern Arizona (6-0-1) in 2010, Sacramento State (4-0-3) in 2007, Weber State (6-0-0) in 2001, Montana (6-0-1) in 1999 and Montana (5-0-0) in 1997.

When Montana and Sacramento State met in Missoula on Oct. 18, the teams played to a 0-0 draw. The Grizzlies doubled up the Hornets in both shots (18-9) and shots on goal (8-4).

* Curious what the numbers say about the final four teams still standing? Sacramento State has an RPI of 159, Montana of 178, Eastern Washington of 188, Northern Colorado of 257.

* Defense leads the way: Montana allowed just two goals through nine regular-season Big Sky matches. It is two goals through 12 matches against league opponents if you count the Grizzlies' three shutouts in last year's tournament.

Montana's 0.21 goals-against average during league this season was the third best in league history, behind only Weber State in 2003 (0.16) and Montana in 1997 (0.20).

* Howard approaching Big Sky history: Junior goalkeeper Claire Howard has nine shutouts this season, 26 for her career. She broke the Montana record for career shutouts in the Grizzlies' 4-0 home win over Portland State on Oct. 20.

She'll likely have to wait until next season to take down the Big Sky Conference record of 29, set by Sacramento State's Savannah Abercrombie (2008-11).

* Montana had seven players recognized last week when the All-Big Sky Conference teams were announced.

Sophomore center back Caitlin Rogers was voted co-Defensive MVP, making it four times in the last eight years a Grizzly has claimed the award.

Junior outside back Taylor Hansen and junior holding midfielder Avery Adams were named first-team All-Big Sky.

Junior goalkeeper Claire Howard, junior forward Alexa Coyle and Rogers were voted second team. Junior midfielder Rita Lang and freshman center back Allie Larsen were honorable mention.

* Junior Alexa Coyle was named to the Big Sky All-Tournament Team as both a freshman and sophomore. She has scored three postseason goals, scoring in three of Montana's four tournament matches the Grizzlies have played the last two seasons.

Junior outside back Taylor Hansen and junior goalkeeper Claire Howard were also voted All-Tournament last year in Ogden.