Griz open Big Sky play on Friday

Friday, March 12

Moscow, Idaho

7 PM (MT)

Montana

Idaho

3/10/2021 3:26:00 PM | Soccer

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana soccer team will open its Big Sky Conference spring schedule this week when it plays a two-match series at Idaho.

The Grizzlies (1-0-0) and Vandals (0-2-0) will play at 7 p.m. (MT) on Friday and at 2 p.m. (MT) on Sunday at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow.

What they've done (Montana): The Grizzlies played their lone nonconference match on Sunday and came away with a 3-0 shutout of MSU Billings.

Alexa Coyle gave Montana a 1-0 lead in the first half, Taylor Hansen and Taylor Stoeger added second-half goals, and Claire Howard collected career shutout No. 27, two shy of the Big Sky record.

Coyle's goal was the 15th of her career, eight of which have now been game-winners. With one more goal she will break into the top 10 in program history, tying Amy Wronski (1999-2001) with 16.

Montana used 23 players in the match, 11 starters and a full dozen off the bench.

What they've done (Idaho): The Vandals played two pre-league matches last month, falling by a 3-0 score to both Oregon State in Moscow and Washington State on the road.

Quality opponents, both. The Beavers defeated No. 3 Stanford two weeks ago. The Cougars are unbeaten this season after making a run to the national semifinals in 2019.

Forward Myah Merino, a United Soccer Coaches third-team All-West Region selection in 2018, has taken a team-high five shots through two matches.

Series notes:

* Montana leads the all-time series with Idaho 9-7-1 and is 3-5-0 against the Vandals in Moscow.

* The Grizzlies are unbeaten against the Vandals in the teams' last three meetings, with two wins and a draw.

* Montana has won its last two games against Idaho in Moscow, winning 1-0 in overtime in 2017 and 1-0 in 2019.

* In the teams' last meeting, in Moscow in 2019, Quinn Peacock's first collegiate goal in the 13th minute provided the match's only scoring as Montana opened league with a 1-0 win.

Summary:

Montana coach Chris Citowicki and Idaho forward Myah Merino? They have some history.

She was a sophomore in 2017 when she scored the game-winning goal in the 78th minute in Idaho's 2-1 win at North Dakota, when Citowicki was on the Fighting Hawks staff.

A year later, Citowicki was in his first season at Montana. And who should open the scoring early in the second half of what would be a 1-1 draw in Missoula? Merino.

When the teams last met, in 2019 in Moscow, Merino was sidelined with an injury. Now she's back, as dangerous up front as ever.

"They definitely missed her last year," said Citowicki. With Merino scoring a team-high five goals in 2018, Idaho went 6-1-2 in league. Without her in 2019 the Vandals went 2-5-2.

"I've seen how dangerous she is as a player. I really like and really respect her. What a game-changer. If they had had her last year, it's a different season."

What Citowicki doesn't know is what his team will face on Friday night. A coach can only learn so much by watching an opponent go up against a good team from a Power 5 conference, which is what Idaho has done.

"They've only played two games, and it's already different from what they've done before," he said. "It's a dangerous different if they keep playing like they played against (Oregon State and Washington State).

"They look more dangerous going forward. They are going to create more opportunities than they ever have before."

Third-year coach Jeremy Clevenger also has in his lineup speedy forward Jadyn Hanks, a freshman.

"She is just as pace-y, just as dangerous (as Merino)," Citowicki said. "Of all the places to start a season when you don't know what's coming, it would be that place.

"We're excited for it, but you just don't know how they are going to set up and what they are going to do. I don't know how he's going to use those two weapons up front."

The weather has already impacted the Big Sky soccer schedule, with Southern Utah's series at Northern Colorado getting canceled on Wednesday because of expected wintery conditions in Greeley this weekend.

That won't be a factor in Moscow, not with the teams playing in the Kibbie Dome.

"I didn't know what to expect the first time going into it, and I ended up really liking it," said Citowicki. "It helps that we won, so we're going back to a place we've had success."

New this year is the two divisions within the Big Sky Conference, with five teams in the Southeast Division, five in the Northwest.

Teams will play two-game series against the other four teams in their division, with the top two on each side advancing to the Big Sky tournament in Ogden, Utah, next month.

"The chess match of playing the same team back-to-back is a whole new thing," said Citowicki. "I don't think anybody will do the exact same thing from one game to the next, unless it works so well you just keep it going.

"So that's a complete unknown. It's exciting that it's going to force all of us to go to a whole new level as coaches. I'm really looking forward to it."

The league opener on Friday will come just five days after Montana had an encouraging 3-0 shutout of MSU Billings at Missoula County Stadium on Sunday, the Grizzlies' home away from home this spring.

"It was nice to go against someone different. It's important to see the breakdowns that start occurring when you face another team," said Citowicki.

"Where are we becoming a little undisciplined? Where are we breaking shape defensively? What are we not doing offensively?

"It was a good performance for the first one, but now there have to be improvements. We've got to tighten some things up, because we're loose in some areas."

If the shutout could have been expected (sorry Claire, that's just the standard you've set), the offensive end of the field was where the questions were.

After more than a year of addressing its attack, Montana passed its first test, outshooting the Yellowjackets 17-3, with eight players taking shots, four of them taking multiple shots.

"We looked great going forward. It's no longer, let's hope Alexa Coyle scores today," said Citowicki.

Stoeger took a team-high five shots. Coyle took four. Hansen took two, as did Zoe Transtrum. Emme Fernandez and freshman Josie Windauer both had quality scoring chances as well.

"Alexa had a goal, Stoeger scored a goal, Taylor Hansen had a goal," said Citowicki. "Josie could have scored a goal, Emme could have scored a goal. Sami (Siems) had a chance, Zoe had a chance.

"And none of them were accidental, where we punted it long and someone got on the end of it or we had a corner. That was the biggest positive. If we do things correctly, we create good chances."

Montana notes:

* Sunday's win was the first for Montana in a season opener since a 1-0 victory at Boise State to open the 2017 season.

* Sunday was just the fifth time in 42 matches under Citowicki that Montana has scored multiple goals in a match. It was the 32nd time his team has limited an opponent to one or fewer goals.

* The win brought Citowicki's record at Montana to .500, at 15-15-12.

* Alexa Coyle took four shots on Sunday to up her career total to 149. She ranks ninth in program history.

* Taylor Hansen's goal in the 51st minute that made it 2-0 was the first of her career. (We failed to adequately recognize this accomplishment on Sunday, so she'll get the homepage photo with this article.)

* Taylor Stoeger's goal in the 62nd minute on Sunday that made it 3-0 was the second of her career. She scored her first goal as a Grizzly in Montana's 4-0 home victory over Portland State in October 2019.

* Stoeger put three of her team-high five shots on goal. Coyle and Hansen both put two shots on goal, Kendall Furrow one.

* Montana scored once on 12 shots in the first half on Sunday. The Grizzlies scored twice on five shots in the second half.

* Claire Howard faced three shots and made one save on Sunday, a brilliant one. It was the sixth time in 27 career shutouts that she's had to make one or fewer saves to blank the other team.

* Mimi Eiden, a transfer from North Dakota, made her Montana debut on Sunday. She started and played 51 minutes.

* Eiden, then a freshman, scored the second-half equalizer for North Dakota in 2017 when the Fighting Hawks lost 2-1 to Idaho in Grand Forks on Merino's game-winner.

* Molly Quarry, a transfer from Nebraska, made her Montana debut on Sunday. She started at center back and played 80 minutes, the most for any player not named Claire Howard.

* Freshmen Alejandra Melendez and Josie Windauer made their Montana debuts off the bench.

* Ali Monroe played for the first time since Sept. 8, 2019, when she suffered a season-ending injury in Montana's 1-0 loss at California.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* The Southern Utah-Northern Colorado series was canceled on Wednesday for expected wintery weather in Greeley this weekend. Tough loss of games for the Bears, who were picked second in the preseason poll behind Montana. The Thunderbirds were picked last, in 10th place.

* Weber State will play at Northern Arizona on Friday and Sunday. The Lumberjacks were picked fifth in the poll, collecting one first-place vote, Weber State sixth.

* In the other series from the Northwest Division, Portland State will play at Eastern Washington. The Eagles were picked third in the preseason poll, the Vikings eighth.

* Portland State is the only team in the Big Sky that did not play a pre-league match. Sacramento State, Weber State and Eastern Washington all played a league-high three nonconference matches.

Upcoming: Montana will be off next week then go straight through to the end: home for Portland State, at Sacramento State, home for Eastern Washington, then (hopefully) off to Ogden for the postseason.