Griz win fourth straight, earn postseason bye

Sunday, October 24

Missoula, Mont.

1 PM

Montana

11-5-1, 7-1-1BSC

Idaho State

2-15-1, 2-6-0BSC

Idaho State

Montana

Photo by: Derek Johnson

10/24/2021 6:23:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana soccer team got first-half goals from Taylor Stoeger and Sydney Haustein and went on to defeat Idaho State 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at South Campus Stadium in Missoula on Senior Day in the Grizzlies' regular-season finale.

The win was the fourth straight for Montana (11-5-1, 7-1-1 BSC), which won its 11th match of the season, the most for the program since 2014.

The Grizzlies sit atop the Big Sky Conference standings with 22 points, but Northern Colorado (9-7-2, 7-1-0 BSC), which rallied twice in its 4-3 home win over Weber State on Sunday, sits just behind with 21.

The Bears host Idaho State (2-15-1, 2-6-0 BSC) at noon on Tuesday in a makeup match for a game that was originally scheduled for Friday night but got postposed because of travel issues for ISU.

If Northern Colorado wins, the Bears would claim their first outright Big Sky championship since joining the league in 2006. A tie would mean Montana and Northern Colorado share the title, but the Bears would earn the No. 1 seed because of their head-to-head win over the Grizzlies two weeks ago.

An Idaho State win would give the outright championship to the Grizzlies, which would be their third straight.

Montana will be either the No. 1 or 2 seed at the Big Sky tournament, which opens in Greeley, Colo., on Wednesday, Nov. 3, with a pair of quarterfinal matches. The Grizzlies will get a bye to the semifinal round, scheduled for Friday, Nov. 5. The championship match will be played at noon on Sunday, Nov. 7.

Montana won the 2019 regular-season title with a 6-0-3 mark, then claimed the Northwest Division championship last spring, going 7-1-0. Both seasons resulted in 21 points, one less than the Grizzlies totaled this season, which may only be good enough for a runner-up finish.

"We finished with 22 points and scored more goals than we normally score, so we're definitely taking strides forward," said coach Chris Citowicki.

"It's just that Northern Colorado has done a better job of winning their games. That's why they're in that position. But they still have to take care of business on Tuesday."

To do so, the Bears will need to contend with an Idaho State team that was feisty on Sunday and a lot more dangerous offensively than expected for a team that had scored just 10 goals through its first 17 matches.

The Bengals took 15 shots and put nine on goal, forcing Griz goalkeeper Camellia Xu to make eight saves, her most since opening league on Sept. 24 with eight in Montana's road win at Northern Arizona.

"They were a team with nothing to lose, so they were committing numbers forward in ways that we don't normally see," said Citowicki.

"I think it was, let's go down swinging. They were very aggressive on the front end, which allowed them to counter us a lot. They created good opportunities."

In a match that had 35 shots, 20 of those put on goal, all the scoring came in a 61-second flourish midway through the first half.

Stoeger opened the scoring at 19:20 when she headed in a beautiful cross from Sami Siems for her seventh goal of the season, her fifth in Montana's last four games.

It's the most goals for a Grizzly since Hallie Widner scored seven in 2014. It was Siems' first career assist, a fitting senior-to-senior connection in the final home match of their careers.

But before the echoes of the cheering had vanished, Idaho State got on the scoreboard when Peyton Dion headed a loose ball past Xu just 28 seconds after Stoeger's opener.

Just 33 seconds after that, Haustein scored goal No. 5 of the season, the game-winner. She redirected an ISU clearing attempt out of midair and just under the crossbar from 12 yards out.

"We scored some great goals today," said Citowicki. "Stoeger's was absolutely amazing and Sydney's finish was just spectacular."

Both teams generated dangerous chances over the final 70 minutes, including a Montana shot off the crossbar in the first half, but the scoring was done for the day.

"It was going to be a game of whoever finishes their chances," said Citowicki, whose team created 10 corner kicks, its third-highest total of the season. Idaho State had none.

The Grizzlies have scored multiple goals in four straight matches as they enter the postseason, which equals the longest stretch of multiple goals under Citowicki.

"We had a bunch of looks we didn't put away and they had some. Luckily at the end of the day, we won 2-1. Twenty shots and two goals, with eight in four games? Pretty good."