Griz take No. 2 seed to Greeley

The Montana soccer team, the tournament's No. 2 seed, will open the Big Sky Conference Championship on Friday with a semifinal match at 11 a.m. at Northern Colorado's Jackson Stadium in Greeley, Colo.

Montana will face either No. 3 Northern Arizona or No. 6 Sacramento State. Those teams open the five-day, five-match tournament with a quarterfinal game at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

If Montana wins on Friday, the Grizzlies would advance to the championship match, scheduled for Sunday at noon.

Coverage: All five matches of the Big Sky Championship air on ESPN+.

At a glance (No. 1 Northern Colorado): The Bears won their first outright regular-season title by going 8-1-0, their only loss at Idaho. UNC outscored its nine Big Sky opponents 26-10 and scored 18 goals on its home field in five league matches at Jackson Stadium.

Montana vs. Northern Colorado: The Bears defeated the Grizzlies 1-0 in Greeley on Oct. 10 on a goal in the 41st minute. Montana was limited to just three shots on goal, its lowest total of the season. The Grizzlies have put 41 shots on goal in four matches since losing to UNC.

At a glance (No. 2 Montana): The Grizzlies will roll into Greeley on a four-match winning streak and with just one loss in their last 12 matches. Montana has scored multiple goals in four consecutive matches, just the second time that's happened under fourth-year coach Chris Citowicki.

At a glance (No. 3 Northern Arizona): The preseason favorite Lumberjacks are the league's hottest team, entering the tournament on a six-match winning streak after opening league 0-3-0. Northern Arizona has outscored its opponents 14-4 during its winning streak.

Montana vs. Northern Arizona: The Grizzlies opened their league schedule with a 1-0 victory over the Lumberjacks in Flagstaff on Sept. 24. NAU had the advantage in shots and corner kicks, but Montana left a winner on Caitlin Rogers' first career goal from distance in the 57th minute.

At a glance (No. 4 Weber State): The Wildcats entered the final weekend of the regular season in a tie for first place but dropped to the No. 4 seed after closing the season with losses at Montana, 2-1, and Northern Colorado, 4-3.

Montana vs. Weber State: The Grizzlies gave up a goal in the 12th minute when the teams met at South Campus Stadium on Oct. 22, but Montana rallied in a big way in the second half, using goals from Taylor Stoeger in the 70th and 73rd minutes to come back for a key victory.

At a glance (No. 5 Idaho): Sitting 2-4-1 in league on the morning of Oct. 17, the Vandals saved their season with a 3-2 home win over Northern Colorado. Idaho made it two straight entering the postseason with a 2-1 overtime win at Eastern Washington on Oct. 24.

Montana vs. Idaho: The Grizzlies bounced back from their loss at Northern Colorado with a 2-1 win over the Vandals in Moscow on Oct. 15 in a match that wasn't as close as the score suggests. Montana outshot Idaho 22-7 and generated 15 corner kicks to the Vandals' three.

At a glance (No. 6 Sacramento State): The Hornets can thank Idaho for getting into the postseason. Had the Vandals not scored in the 108th minute and instead settled for a draw at Eastern Washington on Oct. 24, it would have been the Eagles traveling to Greeley this week instead of the Hornets.

Montana vs. Sacramento State: The Grizzlies and Hornets played to a tense 1-0 Montana victory at South Campus Stadium in Missoula on Oct. 1. The home team got the game-winner in the 38th minute when Caitlin Rogers redirected a corner kick from Taylor Hansen.

The quarterfinals:

No. 3 Northern Arizona vs. No. 6 Sacramento State: The Lumberjacks won 3-2 over the Hornets in Sacramento on Oct. 22, rallying from a 2-1 halftime deficit with the tying goal in the 58th minute, the game winner in the third minute of double overtime. NAU had three yellow cards in the road win.

No. 4 Weber State vs. No. 5 Idaho: The teams met in Ogden back on the opening day of the league schedule. The Vandals took a 1-0 lead in the first half, but the Wildcats rallied for the victory with the equalizer in the 54th minute, the double-overtime game-winner in the 104th.

The prize: The winner of Sunday's championship match will advance to the NCAA tournament. The NCAA selection show will air on NCAA.com on Monday at 2:30 p.m. (MT). First-round matches of the NCAA tournament will be played next Friday, Saturday or Sunday at campus locations.

Montana tournament notes:

* The Grizzlies have won six Big Sky tournament championships (1997, 1999, 2000, 2011, 2018 and 2020), the most in league history. Idaho State has won five, Weber State four.

* Montana has an all-time tournament record of 15-11-4 in a league-record 19 appearances. The Grizzlies have missed the postseason just five times since the Big Sky tournament was first held in 1997.

* Montana is playing in Big Sky tournament for the eighth consecutive year.

* Fourth-year Griz coach Chris Citowicki's teams went 4-1-0 at the tournament in his first three seasons.

* In 2018 in Ogden, Montana won the title playing out of the quarterfinals as the No. 5 seed. The Grizzlies memorably knocked off three higher-seeded teams in five days, all by shutout.

* In 2019 in Greeley, Montana was the No. 1 seed after winning the regular season but lost its first match, 2-1 in overtime against No. 4 Northern Colorado.

* In 2021 in Ogden, Montana, the No. 1 seed out of the Northwest Division, got past Northern Colorado, the No. 2 seed from the Southeast Division, 2-1 in overtime behind two goals from Taylor Stoeger. The championship match against Northern Arizona was not played, sending the Grizzlies to the NCAAs.

* Stoeger was voted the MVP of last spring's tournament. Taylor Hansen was voted all-tournament, as she was at the 2018 tournament when she was a sophomore.

* Montana's last four tournament appearances have ended with a match against Northern Colorado. The Bears defeated the Grizzlies in the semifinals in 2017 and '19, both in overtime. Montana defeated UNC 1-0 in the title match in 2018. Last spring the Grizzlies won 2-1 in overtime in the semifinals.

Summary:

It's tournament week, the best week of the year for Montana coach Chris Citowicki and at the same time the worst because of the opposite ends of the spectrum at which he could find himself and his program by the end of the weekend. Either the highest of highs or the lowest of lows. And that's sports.

"Tournament time. I hate it and love it at the same time. I just have to find ways to zone out and not think about it. That's my plan," he said.

What he has going in his favor is a team that's playing well and with confidence at the right time of the season. And because Montana makes a mostly annual trip to the tournament, he has players who, for the most part, have been there before. They know what this week brings.

"We've got to be a good, mature team that plays like it's been in these spots before. There is nothing we can say before. It's just experience. It's having been here before and knowing what's expected," he said. "You have to know what to do and you have to impose yourself."

The challenge for Montana, plus the other five teams playing in Greeley, is that the margin for error is incredibly small. No. 1, it's soccer, which lends itself to the unpredictable. No. 2, the gap between No. 1 and No. 6 is tight.

"The Big Sky usually gives you four or five really good teams. When it gets to the final four, it's anybody's game on any given day," Citowicki said. "It's a full-on fistfight in the semifinals and final.

"Everybody's got something that could win them the tournament. It's whether or not you can put together the total package to get yourself all the way through."

Citowicki's teams have had a mixed bag of results. In 2018, the Grizzlies won coming through the quarterfinals as the No. 5 seed.

In 2019 Montana earned a coveted bye as the No. 1 seed, but the Grizzlies lost in their first match, in the semifinals, to No. 4 Northern Colorado (though the Bears were playing on their home field, which helped their cause).

Last year's abnormal tournament had just four teams and no championship match.

It's the question that has no right answer: Would you rather play in the quarterfinals and break the lengthy delay between matches two days earlier and get used to the facility and playing surface, or would you rather get a bye and be just two matches from a championship instead of three?

The answer only comes after the fact. Only one team, that one holding the trophy, had the ideal bracket setup.

Montana will try it again with a bye to the semifinals.

"We'll have to face someone coming off a round-one win with a ton of momentum and energy and excitement, and you're coming in cold. That's the thing that's complicated," said Citowicki.

Plus you're facing a postseason-worthy team.

"NAU is a team that's on fire right now. That would be seven straight (wins for the Lumberjacks if they win on Wednesday). That would be two hot teams going up against each other," said Citowicki.

"Then Sacramento got in right at the last minute, but they are a good team. If they get that first-round win, the belief they would have, you would have to match it."

And then there is this: Montana has won just once in Greeley in its 11 matches on the Bears' home field, against UNC or otherwise, and that came in 2009.

"To get a win on Friday would be huge, just for the psychological side of things of getting a result in Greeley," said Citowicki. "There are no easy games in Greeley for anybody, ever."

The addendum to that 1-6-4 record in Greeley is the Big Sky tournament title Montana won there in 2011, on what were officially a pair of ties, against Northern Colorado in the semifinals and Weber State in the championship. Both matches went to shootout, with the Grizzlies winning both.

Those results sent Montana to the NCAA tournament. The Grizzlies are hoping history can repeat itself on the 10th anniversary.

Montana notes:

* Fourth-year Montana coach Chris Citowicki's teams have gone 27-5-8 against Big Sky Conference opponents. Of those five losses, three have come against Northern Colorado, one against Weber State, one against Eastern Washington. Three of the losses came in overtime, the other two by one-goal decisions on the road.

* Citowicki has led Montana to top-two finishes in the Big Sky the last three seasons. In 2019, the Grizzlies won the outright championship. During the 2021 spring season, Montana won the Northwest Division. This year the Grizzlies finished second behind Northern Colorado.

* Montana's 11 wins this season are the most for the program since the 2014 team went 12-6-2. The 2012 team also won 12 matches. Prior to that, the last time a Montana team won 11 or more matches was Betsy Duerksen's NCAA tournament team of 2000 that went 16-5-1.

* Redshirt freshman Camellia Xu was named the Big Sky Goalkeeper of the Year on Monday. She is the third Grizzly to receive the award, following Kailey Norman in 2016 and Claire Howard last spring.

* Xu leads the Big Sky in goals-against average (0.67), save percentage (.869) and shutouts (9). In the national rankings, she is tied for seventh in shutouts and ranks 12th in save percentage and 24th in goals against average.

* Xu has allowed four goals over the last 12 matches. During that time, she has had eight shutouts. The other four matches she gave up one goal.

* Xu was voted first-team All-Big Sky, as were seniors Taylor Hansen, Caitlin Rogers and Taylor Stoeger.

* Montana also had four first-team selections last season. That gives the Grizzlies four or more in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1998-99.

* Hansen was named first-team for the third time. She is one of just four Grizzlies to ever accomplish that. Nikki Bolstad (2001-02, 2004) and Wendy Stuker (2002-04) were both three-time first-team selections. Shannon Forslund (1997-2000) was four times first-team.

* Hansen ended the regular season tied for the Big Sky lead in assists with six. That's the most assists for a Grizzly since India Watne's eight in 2011. Before that you have to go back to 2001 (Saraid Faville) to find a player who's had at least six.

* Hansen's 15 career assists rank sixth in program history. … She ranks first in program history in games (89) and minutes played (7,291), second in games started (79). In that category she trails only Shannon Forslund (83).

* Rogers earned first-team honors for the first time. She was a second-team selection in 2019, the season she was voted the co-Defensive MVP.

* Rogers played just 33 minutes in two matches in the spring as she returned from a broken leg.

* Stoeger had just two goals on the season when Montana bussed to Idaho for a match on Oct. 15. She would score five goals over the season's final four matches to finish the regular season with seven, which tied for second in the Big Sky.

* Stoeger's seven goals are the most for a Grizzly in a season since Hallie Widner had seven in 2014. The last player to score more than seven was Erin Craig's 10 in 2011.

* Eleven of Montana's last 12 goals have been scored by Rogers (2) Stoeger (5), Sydney Haustein (2) and Skyleigh Thompson.

* Haustein was voted second-team All-Big Sky, her first league award that wasn't academic-related. She ranks second behind Stoeger in points, with five goals and an assist. She entered her junior year without any goals or assists in her career.

* Allie Larsen was voted honorable mention All-Big Sky, one season after earning second-team honors.

* Montana has a 17-6-5 all-time record against Northern Arizona and has gone 4-0-4 against the Lumberjacks over their last eight meetings. Montana is 4-0-0 against Northern Arizona in the Big Sky tournament without a goal allowed.

* Montana has a 17-7-6 all-time record against Sacramento State and has gone unbeaten against the Hornets in their last nine meetings (7-0-2). The teams have met twice in the Big Sky tournament. Montana won 5-0 in 2000 in the semifinals in Missoula. The teams played to a 1-1 draw in the semifinals in 2006 in Pocatello, with the Hornets advancing to the title match after a 5-4 victory in a penalty-kick shootout.

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Players Mentioned

Taylor Hansen

Sydney Haustein

Claire Howard

Allie Larsen

Caitlin Rogers

Taylor Stoeger

Skyleigh Thompson

Camellia Xu

University of Montana Athletics