Griz, Cougars to meet again

The Montana soccer team will face Washington State on Saturday evening in Pullman in an opening-round match of the 2021 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship.

The Grizzlies (13-5-1) and Cougars (13-2-4) will play at 6 p.m. (MT) at WSU's Lower Soccer Field.

It marks the third time in Montana's six NCAA tournament appearances that the Grizzlies will have faced Washington State in the first round.

Coverage: Saturday's match will be available on ESPN+ with Trevor Williams calling the action.

How they got here (Montana): The Grizzlies advanced to the NCAA tournament by winning the Big Sky Conference tournament last weekend in Greeley, Colo.

Playing as the No. 2 seed with a bye through the quarterfinals, Montana got past No. 6 Sacramento State 1-0 in the semifinals, then defeated No. 4 Weber State 1-0 in the championship.

How they got here (Washington State): The Cougars finished third in the Pac-12 and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. WSU finished behind UCLA, a No. 2 seed in the tournament, and USC, a No. 3 seed. Stanford was the fourth team from the Pac-12 to make the 64-team field.

Washington State has lost just twice this season, both setbacks coming in Pullman. The Cougars fell 2-1 in a nonconference match to Seattle and 1-0 to Stanford.

WSU enters the postseason on a seven-match unbeaten streak, going 4-0-3, with draws against UCLA and USC, since losing to Stanford on Oct. 7.

Tournament bona fides (Montana): The Grizzlies are making their sixth trip to the NCAA tournament, their third in four seasons under fourth-year coach Chris Citowicki. Montana also made the national tournament in 1999, 2000 and 2011.

Montana advanced in 2018, in Citowicki's first season, and lost 5-1 at Washington State. In April, at the end of the 2021 spring season, the Grizzlies faced South Carolina in Wilson, N.C. The Gamecocks scored early in the second half and held on for a 1-0 victory.

Montana has a 1-5 record in the NCAA tournament. The Grizzlies' lone win was a 1-0 victory at Washington State in 2000. (Montana also won a play-in match in 2000, a 6-0 home win over Northwestern State, to advance to face the Cougars.)

Tournament bona fides (Washington State): The Cougars are making their 14th appearance in the NCAA tournament, their ninth in the last 11 years.

In WSU's most recent appearance, in 2019, the Cougars made a memorable run to the national semifinals, defeating Memphis, Virginia, West Virginia and South Carolina to advance to the College Cup in San Jose, Calif.

Washington State lost 2-1 to North Carolina in the semifinals to come up one match short of playing for a national championship.

The Cougars are back in the field after missing the NCAA tournament in the spring. They went 6-3-3 and fell short of an at-large bid to the condensed 48-team field.

The coach (Montana): Chris Citowicki is in his fourth year at Montana and has led the Grizzlies to five Big Sky Conference championships, two regular season, three tournament.

He has a record at Montana of 36-22-13. His teams have gone a remarkable 29-5-8 against Big Sky opponents. Three of those five losses have come in overtime, the other two by a one-goal margin on the road.

The coach (Washington State): Todd Shulenberger is in his seventh year leading the Cougars. This is the fifth time he's guided his team to the NCAA tournament, where he has a record of 6-4-1.

His overall record at Washington State is 80-41-15.

Shulenberger's assistant coaches are both former head coaches in the Pac-12. Kevin Boyd was the head coach at California and Arizona State, Matt Kagan at Oregon State.

In the rankings:

* Washington State is ranked 15th nationally in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll. The Cougars are third in the Pacific Region, behind UCLA and USC.

* Montana made its debut in the West Region poll this week, coming in at No. 10.

* Montana is 3-18 all-time against nationally ranked opponents and has dropped its last 10 matchups against those teams by an aggregate score of 40-2.

* Montana's last match against a ranked opponent was a 1-0 loss to No. 18 South Carolina in last spring's NCAA tournament.

* Montana's last win against a ranked opponent came back in 2000, when the Grizzlies defeated No. 19 Washington State 1-0 in the NCAA tournament.

Series notes:

* Washington State leads the series against Montana 14-6-2. The Cougars have won three straight against the Grizzlies and are 10-0-1 against Montana in the teams' last 11 matchups.

* Washington State is 10-2-1 against Montana in Pullman. The Grizzlies' wins came in 1998 during the regular season and 2000 in the NCAA tournament.

* Montana has dropped its last eight matches against Washington State in Pullman.

* The Grizzlies' last win in the series was a 2-1 overtime victory in 2004 in Missoula.

* The teams played to a 0-0 draw in Missoula in 2017. Since then, Washington State has won three straight by scores of 3-1 (during the regular season in 2018), 5-1 (in the 2018 NCAA tournament) and 6-0 (during the regular season in 2019, the year WSU made it to the national semifinals).

* Shulenberger is 5-0-1 against Montana, Citowicki is 0-3-0 against Washington State.

Summary:

Montana enters the NCAA tournament on a roll, having gone 12-1-1 since Labor Day, with just four goals allowed in those 14 matches.

But Saturday's is the type of opponent Montana hasn't faced since … the last time the Grizzlies faced the Cougars, early in the 2019 season.

"It's an amazing program, a measuring stick," said Montana coach Chris Citowicki. "There are different levels within Power 5's, and Washington State is the type of program you expect to make the Sweet 16, the Elite Eight, if not more than that.

"My goal for this program is to get to the Sweet 16 at some point, but that's probably the ceiling. Once you get beyond that, those programs are borderline untouchable. They operate on a different level than everyone else. That's what we're up against on Saturday, a machine. Let's see what we can do."

It's hard to believe that the teams played to a 0-0 draw as recently as 2017, but that was before Shulenberger got his program rolling. In the teams' three matchups since, Washington State has outscored Montana 14-2.

In the teams' NCAA tournament match in 2018, Morgan Weaver scored the game-winning goal. The next fall, in 2019, she scored in the fourth and 12th minutes as the Cougars rolled to a 6-0 victory, the most recent matchup between the two teams.

It was announced earlier this week that Weaver has been called up to the U.S. Women's National Team.

"That's the caliber of player they're producing and the caliber of player that's there right now, so that's what we're going up against," said Citowicki.

Washington State has outscored its opponents this season 42-11, has more than doubled the number of shots its opponents have taken and has 12 shutouts while only getting shut out twice.

"They're a good team. They have a potent attack, they have a very good defense and they have a phenomenal goalkeeper, as do we. They are an amazing program that continues to produce amazing players," said Citowicki.

What Montana has going for it since its last meeting with Washington State is its 1-0 loss to South Carolina in last spring's NCAA tournament, its best showing since 2000.

The match was scoreless at the half before the Gamecocks scored early in the second half. That would be the match's only goal.

"Last year was exceptionally important," said Citowicki. "For them to play that game and keep it close showed them that they can hang with those players and can actually do it.

"There was something about keeping the game close and knowing they can go up physically against Power 5 athletes. It meant so much in bringing back that understanding."

Also playing in Montana's favor was going through the Big Sky tournament last weekend. The Grizzlies won a semifinal match when they weren't at their best and a championship match when they were closer to that ideal, but it was still a 1-0 outcome.

It was 180 minutes of tenseness, and Montana came out victorious both times.

"It was nice having a playoff, a tight semifinal and tight final in games that matter, when teams throw everything they have at you," said Citowicki.

"If we didn't have a playoff and were just going off the end of the season, I think we'd be in a lot of trouble. But we've had to fight for everything we've earned.

"Now we can go in there (on Saturday) and reclaim our underdog mentality, which we haven't had in a long time, and that just lights a fire."

Montana tournament notes:

* The Grizzlies have scored three goals in their five previous NCAA tournament matches.

* Heidi Melville scored in the 43rd minute to give Montana a 1-0 halftime lead at Texas A&M in 1999, a match the Grizzlies would lose 2-1 in regulation.

* Shannon Forslund scored the game-winner in the 67th minute in Montana's 1-0 win at Washington State in 2000.

* Kennedy Yost scored in the 85th minute in Montana's 5-1 loss at Washington State in 2018, the match's final goal after the Cougars built a 5-0 lead.

* Citowicki has led Montana to three of its six NCAA tournament appearances. Betsy Duerksen coached the Grizzlies to the 1999 and 2000 tournaments, Mark Plakorus to the NCAAs in 2011.

* This year's senior class is the first at Montana to play in three NCAA tournaments.

* Taylor Hansen, McKenzie Kilpatrick and Ali Monroe will all be playing in their third NCAA tournament match when they take the field on Saturday.

* Caitlin Rogers and Zoe Transtrum played against Washington State in 2018 but did not get in the game last spring against South Carolina.

* In its six previous NCAA tournament matches (not including the play-in match in 2000), Montana has been outscored 16-3, outshot 142-43.

Montana notes:

* The Grizzlies won the Big Sky tournament last weekend in Greeley, posting 1-0 victories over Sacramento State and Weber State for their seventh tournament title.

* Montana improved to 6-1-0 in Big Sky tournament matches under Citowicki. The Grizzlies have allowed just two goals in those seven matches, posting five shutouts.

* Redshirt freshman Camellia Xu, who was in goal for both shutouts, was voted the tournament MVP. Xu faced 23 shots in the two matches and made nine saves.

* Of Montana's seven Big Sky tournament MVPs in program history, Xu is the first goalkeeper to be honored.

* Also earning all-tournament honors: Charley Boone, Taylor Hansen, Allie Larsen, Caitlin Rogers and Taylor Stoeger.

* Hansen was voted all-tournament for the third time in her career, Stoeger, the MVP of last spring's tournament, for the second time.

* Boone scored the game-winner in Montana's 1-0 semifinal win over Sacramento State in the 87th minute, her first career goal on only her third career shot. Assists went to Larsen and Stoeger.

* The game-winner against Weber State in the championship match came off the foot of Jaden Griggs in the 36th minute. The assist went to Zoe Transtrum, the first collegiate point for the senior.

* Montana won the title despite getting outshot in the two matches and allowing 10 corner kicks while creating just two.

* Xu is tied for third nationally with 11 shutouts. She ranks fourth in save percentage (.882), 16th in goals-against average (0.60).

* Montana ranks fourth nationally in save percentage (.883) and 17th in goals-against average (0.62), and is tied for ninth with 11 shutouts.

* Xu's 11 shutouts this season are a new program record, topping the previous record of 10, established by Kristen Hoon in 2012 and matched by Claire Howard in 2018.

* Xu's 13 wins this season trail only Railene Thorson's 16 in 1997 and Natalie Hiller's 14 in 2000 in program history.

* Montana's 13 wins this fall are the most for the Grizzlies since they went 16-5-1 in 2000.

* When Taylor Hansen starts on Saturday at Washington State, it will be the 82nd of her career. Only Shannon Forslund, who started 83 times while playing from 1997-2000 has made more starts in program history.

* Hansen, playing in her fifth season because of the NCAA's COVID exception, has already set new records for matches (91) and minutes played (7,454). Her 15 career assists rank sixth in program history.

* Xu, a six-time Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week this season, was named the Big Sky Goalkeeper of the Year on Nov. 1.

* She follows Claire Howard, who was voted the Big Sky Goalkeeper of the Year in the spring.

* Xu leads the Big Sky in goals-against average, save percentage and shutouts. … Hansen is tied for first in assists with six, Taylor Stoeger is tied for third in goals with seven.

* Montana leads the Big Sky in shots at more than 14.2 per game. … The Grizzlies' 27 goals this fall are the most for the team since the 2014 squad netted 32.

* Taylor Stoeger's seven goals this season are the most for a Grizzly since Hallie Widner's seven in 2014. Her 18 points are the most since Erin Craig totaled 19 in 2012.

* Montana's 11 shutouts are one off the program record of 12, set by the 1996, 1997, 2000 and 2012 teams.

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Players Mentioned

Charley Boone

Jaden Griggs

Taylor Hansen

Claire Howard

McKenzie Kilpatrick

Allie Larsen

Ali Monroe

Caitlin Rogers

Taylor Stoeger

Zoe Transtrum

Camellia Xu

University of Montana Athletics