Griz get their shot at first-place Bears

The Montana soccer team, unbeaten and unscored upon since Sept. 5, will get its shot at Big Sky Conference leader Northern Colorado on Sunday afternoon when the two teams square off in Greeley, Colo.

The Grizzlies (7-4-1, 3-0-1 BSC) and Bears (6-6-2, 4-0-0 BSC), who have outscored their first four league opponents 11-2, will kick off at noon at UNC's Jackson Stadium, where Montana hasn't won since 2009.

Jackson Stadium will also be the site of next month's six-team Big Sky Conference tournament.

Sunday will be the start of a challenging three-match road stretch for the Grizzlies, who play next week at Idaho (8-2-2, 2-1-1 BSC) and Eastern Washington (4-8-0, 2-2-2 BSC).

Montana will conclude its regular season with home games against Weber State (6-5-0, 3-0-0 BSC) and Idaho State (0-12-1, 0-3-0 BSC) later this month.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies will go into Sunday's match without a goal allowed or without a loss since Sept. 5, when they fell at Gonzaga. Montana is 6-0-1 since, with six shutout wins and Sunday's 0-0 draw with Portland State.

The seven consecutive shutouts match a program record, set by former coach Betsy Duerksen's third team, her 1996 squad, which also went 6-0-1 during its streak.

To get more specific, that team went 702 consecutive minutes without a goal allowed, from Sept. 8 to Oct. 6, from a goal by Wyoming to one by Wisconsin with a lot of nothing in between. Montana's current shutout streak is at 665 minutes.

After opening league with 1-0 wins at Northern Arizona and Southern Utah, the Grizzlies made it five consecutive 1-0 victories when they defeated Sacramento State in Missoula on Friday behind Caitlin Rogers' second goal in eight days.

Montana played to a 0-0 draw with Portland State on Sunday. The Grizzlies were shut out for just the third time this season despite taking 19 shots and putting nine of them on goal.

The weekend shutouts earned redshirt freshman goalkeeper Camellia Xu her third consecutive Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week award, her fourth of the season. Sunday's shutout was Xu's eighth of the season, which set a new program record for clean sheets by a freshman.

Xu leads the Big Sky in goals-against average (0.61), save percentage (.877) and shutouts (8). She is tied for first nationally in shutouts with North Texas's Sarah Fuller, who made a name for herself at Vanderbilt before transferring, and ranks 12th in save percentage and 30th in goals-against average.

At a glance (Northern Colorado): The Bears went just 2-6-2 during their nonconference schedule, with wins over Colorado College and Wyoming and getting shut out in six of 10 matches, but UNC has gotten on a roll the first two weekends of league play.

Northern Colorado, picked third in the Big Sky preseason poll behind Northern Arizona and Montana, swept the Southern Utah-Northern Arizona road trip with 3-1 and 2-0 victories, then picked up a 4-1 win over Portland State and 2-0 shutout of Sacramento State in Greeley last weekend.

The Bears are +29 against their four league opponents in shots, +18 in shots on goal.

Senior forward Lexi Pulley leads the Big Sky in goals with nine, more than twice as many as any other player in the league.

As Montana's travel partner, Northern Colorado will mirror the Grizzlies' remaining schedule, with a road trip to Eastern Washington and Idaho, and home matches against Idaho State and Weber State to close the regular season.

Series history:

* Northern Colorado leads the series with Montana 8-6-5. The Bears are the only Big Sky program that has a winning record against the Grizzlies.

* The teams have ended the other's season the last four years. Northern Colorado won Big Sky tournament semifinal matches in 2017 in Cheney and 2019 in Greeley, both coming in overtime. Montana defeated Northern Colorado in the tournament championship match in 2018 and in the semifinals last spring, both times in Ogden.

* Montana hasn't won its regular-season matchup against Northern Colorado since 2014, a 1-0 home win on Hallie Widner's goal in the 83rd minute.

* The Grizzlies are just 1-5-3 against the Bears in Greeley, winning 1-0 in 2009 on an own goal in the eighth minute, one of just four wins that season for a team that finished 4-13-1.

* The teams' most recent matchup came in Ogden in April in the Big Sky tournament semifinals, when the Grizzlies won 2-1 in overtime behind two goals from Taylor Stoeger. The win sent Montana to the NCAA tournament when the championship match against Northern Arizona was canceled.

* Northern Colorado coach Tim Barrera, who has been leading the Bears since 1999, is 8-6-5 against Montana. … Fourth-year Montana coach Chris Citowicki is 2-2-1 against the Bears.

Summary:

When Montana and Northern Colorado meet up on the soccer field, it's a circle-the-calendar kind of event.

When it happens in the regular season, titles are usually at stake. When it comes in the postseason, even more is on the line.

They are the two winningest programs in the Big Sky over the last decade.

"When I first came into the league, I didn't appreciate (UNC coach Tim Barrera) and his program as much as I should have," said Montana coach Chris Citowicki.

"Now that I'm in it longer, it is the game I look forward to the most because I get to challenge myself against one of the best coaches out there.

"He runs a great program that does things exceptionally well. I enjoy beating them and I'm sure he really enjoys beating us. It's the game that's circled on my calendar because it's so much fun to be a part of."

Even though this year's tournament is heading to Greeley, next year's will be at the site of this season's regular-season winner. It's been a few years since hosting rights were on the line and determined on the field, not by a school's bid.

Hosting rights for a tournament that won't take place until 13 months from now is also one of the key storylines on Sunday, as standings start to be watched more and more closely.

Montana will head to Greeley this weekend with a stout defense and an offense that has been doing just enough to win. Since thumping Texas Southern 6-0 back on Sept. 10, the Grizzlies have scored just five goals in six matches but are still unbeaten during that period.

"It would be more worrying if we weren't creating chances. But every game we're getting more than 10 shots and a handful of them on goal, with some legit, quality opportunities," said Citowicki.

"Everything is flowing. It's my job to instill confidence in people so we win games. We'll work on it and get better at it. Just like has happened previously, it will happen again and we'll be good to go."

While goal-scoring can be fickle, with success or lack of it coming from a matter of inches, a quality defense is more stable, more predictable. If you have it, you have it. And Montana has it.

With Montana's back line all returning, it was going to be a strength no matter who won the goalkeeper position. Xu, who followed record-setting Claire Howard, has just added to it.

"What's similar is they both find ways to keep the ball out of the back of the net, which is absolutely amazing," said Citowicki. "Cam has made some saves that are just out of this world, and Claire did similar things.

"Cam is developing in her confidence and presence to lead and really prevent saves just through her own communication, where she organizes the team so well."

It was Howard's shared record of shutouts for a freshman that Xu broke on Sunday with No. 8. Xu has played 10 full matches this season and has shutouts in eight of them.

"I think our style of play is very similar. We don't play traditional American soccer where it's kick and run. We have ideas to play through the back, and we're confident with our feet," said Xu. "That's something she pushed me to be good at.

"I'm really glad to be in the position I'm in. I have to credit the back line for giving me fewer shots to deal with. I'll be there when I have to be, but ultimately it's their job to keep the ball from even getting to me. It's a team effort. It's a unit."

While Xu ranks first in the Big Sky in goals-against average, save percentage and shutouts, she ranks ninth in saves per game (4.17), which highlights the work her teammates are doing in front of her.

Montana notes:

* Senior Caitlin Rogers played in 50 career matches before scoring her first career goal, in Montana's 1-0 win at Northern Arizona. A week later, against Sacramento State, she added No. 2.

* Senior Taylor Hansen, on a corner kick, assisted on Rogers' game-winner against the Hornets. It was her fifth of the season, which leads the Big Sky.

* Hansen's assist made it 14 for her career, which is tied for sixth in program history with India Watne (2010-13), Nikki Bolstad (2000-04) and Colleen Joyce (1998-99).

* Hansen is 38 minutes played from becoming the all-time leader in that category in program history, goalkeepers included.

* Hansen is tied for second in career games played (84), one behind Ellie Otteson's record of 85, and tied for ninth in games started at 74. If she starts the final five regular-season games, she'll sit alone in second behind Shannon Forslund (1997-2000), who started 83.

* Sydney Haustein is one of three players in the Big Sky to have scored four goals this fall. They are tied for second in the league behind Pulley and her nine goals.

* Xu's four Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week awards are the most for a league player since Eastern Washington's Tiera Como won it four times during the 2005 season.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Through two of five weekends of league play, Northern Colorado (4-0-0 BSC) and Weber State (3-0-0 BSC) are the only teams without a loss or tie on their record.

* Montana (3-0-1 BSC) is unbeaten, Idaho (2-1-1 BSC) and Portland State (1-1-1 BSC) have one league loss.

* The top six teams at regular season's end will make the Big Sky tournament in Greeley.

* Southern Utah, Sacramento State and Idaho State are a combined 2-30-4 this season.

* This is amazing: Utah State, now 9-3-1, won 2-1 in overtime at BYU last month. Last weekend BYU went to Gonzaga and won 6-1, which reveals how good Utah State is. Idaho State is 0-12-1. That one draw was a 0-0 final in Pocatello against Utah State in both teams' season opener.

* In games of note last weekend, Idaho won at home over Big Sky favorite Northern Arizona 3-1 on Friday, then played to an unsatisfying 0-0 draw with Southern Utah on Sunday.

* NAU picked up its first league win on Sunday with a 1-0 victory at Eastern Washington. ... Weber State moved to 3-0-0 in league with a 3-0 win over Idaho State on Sunday in Ogden. The Bengals were limited to just two shots.

Friday matches: ISU at SUU, WSU at NAU, EWU at PSU, UI at SAC

Game of note: Weber State at Northern Arizona. The Lumberjacks were picked first in the preseason poll, but it's the Wildcats who are 3-0-0 through the opening two weekends while the Lumberjacks are 1-3-0.

Sunday matches: UM at UNC, WSU at SUU, ISU at NAU, UI at PSU, EWU at SAC

Game of note: Montana at Northern Colorado. The Grizzlies can tighten the Big Sky race, or the Bears can move to 5-0-0 in league.

Upcoming: Montana will play at Idaho at 7 p.m. (MT) on Friday, Oct. 15, at Eastern Washington on Sunday, Oct. 17, at 2 p.m. (MT).

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Players Mentioned

Taylor Hansen

Sydney Haustein

Claire Howard

Caitlin Rogers

Taylor Stoeger

Camellia Xu

University of Montana Athletics