Friday, April 2
Sacramento, Calif.
4 PM (MT)
Montana
at
Sacramento State
Photo by: Derek Johnson
Montana takes undefeated record to Sacramento State
3/30/2021 1:02:00 PM | Soccer
The Montana soccer team, off to its best start in program history, will take its unblemished record to Sacramento State later this week for a pair of matches against the Hornets.
The teams will play on Friday at 4 p.m. (MT) and Sunday at 1 p.m. (MT) at Hornet Field.
Montana will turn around and host Eastern Washington next week in what will already be the final weekend of the regular season.
For those that qualify, the four-team Big Sky Conference Championship will be held Thursday, April 15, and Saturday, April 17, in Ogden, Utah.
The semifinals will be played at noon and 3 p.m. on the 15th, the championship match at 3:30 p.m. on the 17th.
Where they stand (Montana): The Grizzlies are 5-0-0 and atop the five-team Northwest Division after winning twice over Portland State in Missoula last week. Montana is 4-0-0 in league matches.
Montana has outscored its opponents this season 10-1, with four shutouts.
Where they stand (Sacramento State): The Hornets are 1-2-4 and haven't won since opening the season with a 2-1, double-overtime home victory over Saint Mary's.
Sacramento State is 0-2-2 in league. The Hornets opened Big Sky play with a pair of 0-0 home draws with Eastern Washington, then lost 2-1 and 2-0 at red-hot Idaho last weekend.
What's at stake (Montana): The Grizzlies are in a good position to qualify for their seventh consecutive Big Sky Championship but still have matches remaining against two teams that picked up first-place votes in the preseason poll.
Montana also will take a 17-match (12-0-5) regular-season unbeaten streak against Big Sky opponents into this week's contests. The Grizzlies went 2-0-2 against league teams to close the 2018 regular season, 6-0-3 in 2019 and are off to a 4-0-0 start this season.
What's at stake (Sacramento State): With only two of the five teams in the Northwest Division qualifying for the postseason, the Hornets are in fourth place behind Montana, Idaho and Eastern Washington.
Sacramento State has the benefit of closing its regular season at last-place Portland State next week, but the Hornets will need more results on its resume than that to climb into the top two.
Series notes:
* Montana leads the all-time series against Sacramento State 14-7-6 and has gone 6-5-2 against the Hornets on their home field.
* The Grizzlies are unbeaten against the Hornets in the teams' last six meetings, going 4-0-2.
* Sacramento State's last win in the series was a 3-0 victory in Missoula in 2013.
* The Grizzlies are 2-0-1 in their last three matches in Sacramento. The Hornets' last win over Montana at home was a 2-0 victory in 2012.
* In the teams' most recent matchup, in 2019 in Missoula, the teams played to a 0-0 draw.
The coaches:
* Montana is coached by Chris Citowicki, who is in his third season. He has led the Grizzlies to a 19-15-12 overall record, a 13-2-7 record in Big Sky matches.
* Sacramento State is coached by Randy Dedini, who is 104-108-41 in his 14th season.
Summary:
For as exciting as Sunday was, when Claire Howard broke the Big Sky Conference record for career shutouts, it also came with a sense of relief that it was over and no longer a storyline.
It was a record that was almost certain to be broken this spring. But until it was, it was always going to be a thing.
"It was there. You can't pretend it wasn't," said Montana coach Chris Citowicki. "It was weighing on shoulders. There was just this little tension beneath the surface."
You could sense it on Friday, when Portland State scored in the first half, almost like an opportunity to get it done had been lost, or at least delayed, even though there were still 61 minutes left in a match that was now tied.
The chase for the record had taken on an outsized role instead of it being a secondary narrative.
"You could tell it affected us when the goal went in for them," said Citowicki. "That's done now, which is great. Now we can move on and celebrate it."
What remains is a team that came out of Sunday's match on a high after scoring multiple goals in a match for just the seventh time in 46 matches under Citowicki.
Three of those have come this season.
In its four Big Sky matches, Montana has scored twice on free kicks, twice from distance, on a penalty kick and on a sweet header off an even sweeter cross.
What had been a one-dimensional attack in the early parts of the Citowicki era is now looking more and more lethal.
"We have evolved," said Citowicki, who said back in 2018 that scoring would be the last piece of the puzzle to be put into place.
"We can score on free kicks, we can score on corners, and if you want to drop, we have players who can shoot from distance. We have threats all over the place now, which makes us dangerous."
Montana swept Idaho in Moscow earlier this month, both by 1-0 margins, with Alexa Coyle scoring directly off a free kick in the opener, Rita Lang in overtime in the second game.
In Friday's 2-1 home win over Portland State, Avery Adams opened the scoring when she connected from 25 yards out. She later added a penalty kick, the game-winner in the second half.
In Sunday's 3-0 win, Taylor Stoeger scored the first goal when she collected a pass in front of goal and held off a defender long enough to put away her second of the season.
Coyle redirected a cross from Taylor Hansen to make it 2-0 with a header early in the second half. Allie Larsen scored from distance in the 79th minute to make it 3-0.
It was all a byproduct of how Portland State opted to defend Montana. The last two years it might have been enough to hold Montana down and force a draw.
Now it's an if you do that, we'll do this, if you do this, we'll do that kind of dynamic.
"That why Avery had so many shots on Friday," said Citowicki, referring to the Vikings' packing it in to take away chances for Montana's forwards. "They wanted to protect the space.
"So all our looks came from outside the box. And who's sitting outside the box who's almost never inside the box? Avery Adams. Now Allie Larsen is feeling like she can take some shots from distance. Rita Lang is feeling the same way.
"We've never been able to do that before. It's taken years to get to this point, but now we're dangerous in so many different ways. We're in a really good spot, and we're not even close to being done with our evolution."
Up next is Sacramento State, a team in fourth place in the division and in desperate need of wins after starting league 0-2-2.
"They are in a position where they need to start getting results," said Citowicki. "They are going to be ready to compete. They are going to come out to fight. That's what makes them dangerous."
Match notes:
* Friday's match will be the first this season for Montana on grass. The Grizzlies have played three home games on artificial turf at Missoula County Stadium and played Idaho twice in the Kibbie Dome.
* After opening the season with a 2-1 overtime home win over Saint Mary's, the Hornets played to four consecutive draws, scoring just two goals against Pacific (1-1), Oregon (1-1) and Eastern Washington (0-0 and 0-0).
* Sacramento State got outscored 4-1 at Idaho last weekend against the surging Vandals, who are 4-0-0 in their last four matches with a scoring margin of 14-1.
* The Hornets have scored five goals in seven matches, with the goals coming from five different players.
* Aaliyah Fesili, the Big Sky Goalkeeper of the Year last season and first-team all-league, is back. She has a 0.87 goals-against average this season.
* Avery Adams' goal in the 18th minute on Friday was the first of her career. Forty-eight minutes later she converted a penalty kick for the game-winner and career goal No. 2.
* Adams' first goal was set up by McKenzie Kilpatrick, whose assist gave Kilpatrick her first point of the season, the sixth of her career.
* Montana outshot Portland State in two matches 36-8. The Grizzlies put 19 of those shots on goal.
* Taylor Stoeger scored the game-winner on Sunday in the 14th minute off a feed from Allie Larsen, who would score her first collegiate goal in the 79th minute.
* It was season goal No. 2 for Stoeger, career goal No. 3. For Larsen, it was season assist No. 1, career assist No. 2. She assisted on Alexa Coyle's game-winner at Northern Arizona in 2019.
* Coyle scored her third of the season, the 17th of her career, early in the second half on Sunday. She now stands alone in 10th place on the Montana career list.
* Taylor Hansen, crosser extraordinaire, assisted on Coyle's goal. Hansen now has seven career assists. She has had at least one in each of her four seasons.
* Montana leads the Big Sky Conference in goals scored (2.0/g) and also goals allowed (0.2/g).
* Alexa Coyle leads the Big Sky in shots (3.2/g) and goals per game (0.6).
* Montana's Claire Howard (0.20/.929) and Sacramento State's Aaliyah Fesili (0.87/.873) rank first and second in the Big Sky in goals-against average and save percentage.
Around the Big Sky Conference:
* With two weekends of regular-season matches remaining, Montana (4-0-0) sits atop the Northwest Division, Northern Arizona (5-0-0) the Southeast Division.
* Northern Colorado also is undefeated in league at 2-0-0 in the Southeast. The Bears, who were off last week, had their series against Southern Utah earlier this month canceled because of weather.
* This week's series: Montana at Sacramento State, Idaho at Eastern Washington, Northern Arizona at Northern Colorado, Weber State at Idaho State.
* In the Northwest Division, Eastern Washington (2-0-2) and Idaho (4-2-0) are tied for second at 2.00 points per match, which is how the standings are based this season.
* Idaho enters the series on a four-match winning streak. Eastern Washington, off last weekend, is 3-0-2 in its last five and hasn't dropped a match since Feb. 22, 2-0 at Gonzaga.
* In the Southeast Division, Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado, which play each other this week, are both at 3.0 points per match, making their head-to-head matchup a big one on that side of the standings.
* Next week's series: Eastern Washington at Montana, Northern Colorado at Weber State, Idaho State at Southern Utah, Sacramento State at Portland State.
* The Big Sky Conference Championship semifinals will be played in Ogden on Thursday, April 15. The No. 1 seed from the Southeast will play the No. 2 seed from the Northwest at noon, the No. 1 seed from the Northwest and No. 2 seed from the Southeast will play at 3 p.m.
* The championship match will be played at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 17.
* NCAA tournament selections will be announced on Monday, April 19. The entire 48-team NCAA tournament will be played at various sites in North Carolina, with first-round matches being played on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 27-28.
Upcoming: Montana will close the regular season hosting Eastern Washington at Missoula County Stadium on Friday, April 9 (7 p.m.), and Sunday, April 11 (noon). The latter will serve as Senior Day.
The teams will play on Friday at 4 p.m. (MT) and Sunday at 1 p.m. (MT) at Hornet Field.
Montana will turn around and host Eastern Washington next week in what will already be the final weekend of the regular season.
For those that qualify, the four-team Big Sky Conference Championship will be held Thursday, April 15, and Saturday, April 17, in Ogden, Utah.
The semifinals will be played at noon and 3 p.m. on the 15th, the championship match at 3:30 p.m. on the 17th.
Where they stand (Montana): The Grizzlies are 5-0-0 and atop the five-team Northwest Division after winning twice over Portland State in Missoula last week. Montana is 4-0-0 in league matches.
Montana has outscored its opponents this season 10-1, with four shutouts.
Where they stand (Sacramento State): The Hornets are 1-2-4 and haven't won since opening the season with a 2-1, double-overtime home victory over Saint Mary's.
Sacramento State is 0-2-2 in league. The Hornets opened Big Sky play with a pair of 0-0 home draws with Eastern Washington, then lost 2-1 and 2-0 at red-hot Idaho last weekend.
What's at stake (Montana): The Grizzlies are in a good position to qualify for their seventh consecutive Big Sky Championship but still have matches remaining against two teams that picked up first-place votes in the preseason poll.
Montana also will take a 17-match (12-0-5) regular-season unbeaten streak against Big Sky opponents into this week's contests. The Grizzlies went 2-0-2 against league teams to close the 2018 regular season, 6-0-3 in 2019 and are off to a 4-0-0 start this season.
What's at stake (Sacramento State): With only two of the five teams in the Northwest Division qualifying for the postseason, the Hornets are in fourth place behind Montana, Idaho and Eastern Washington.
Sacramento State has the benefit of closing its regular season at last-place Portland State next week, but the Hornets will need more results on its resume than that to climb into the top two.
Series notes:
* Montana leads the all-time series against Sacramento State 14-7-6 and has gone 6-5-2 against the Hornets on their home field.
* The Grizzlies are unbeaten against the Hornets in the teams' last six meetings, going 4-0-2.
* Sacramento State's last win in the series was a 3-0 victory in Missoula in 2013.
* The Grizzlies are 2-0-1 in their last three matches in Sacramento. The Hornets' last win over Montana at home was a 2-0 victory in 2012.
* In the teams' most recent matchup, in 2019 in Missoula, the teams played to a 0-0 draw.
The coaches:
* Montana is coached by Chris Citowicki, who is in his third season. He has led the Grizzlies to a 19-15-12 overall record, a 13-2-7 record in Big Sky matches.
* Sacramento State is coached by Randy Dedini, who is 104-108-41 in his 14th season.
Summary:
For as exciting as Sunday was, when Claire Howard broke the Big Sky Conference record for career shutouts, it also came with a sense of relief that it was over and no longer a storyline.
It was a record that was almost certain to be broken this spring. But until it was, it was always going to be a thing.
"It was there. You can't pretend it wasn't," said Montana coach Chris Citowicki. "It was weighing on shoulders. There was just this little tension beneath the surface."
You could sense it on Friday, when Portland State scored in the first half, almost like an opportunity to get it done had been lost, or at least delayed, even though there were still 61 minutes left in a match that was now tied.
The chase for the record had taken on an outsized role instead of it being a secondary narrative.
"You could tell it affected us when the goal went in for them," said Citowicki. "That's done now, which is great. Now we can move on and celebrate it."
What remains is a team that came out of Sunday's match on a high after scoring multiple goals in a match for just the seventh time in 46 matches under Citowicki.
Three of those have come this season.
In its four Big Sky matches, Montana has scored twice on free kicks, twice from distance, on a penalty kick and on a sweet header off an even sweeter cross.
What had been a one-dimensional attack in the early parts of the Citowicki era is now looking more and more lethal.
"We have evolved," said Citowicki, who said back in 2018 that scoring would be the last piece of the puzzle to be put into place.
"We can score on free kicks, we can score on corners, and if you want to drop, we have players who can shoot from distance. We have threats all over the place now, which makes us dangerous."
Montana swept Idaho in Moscow earlier this month, both by 1-0 margins, with Alexa Coyle scoring directly off a free kick in the opener, Rita Lang in overtime in the second game.
In Friday's 2-1 home win over Portland State, Avery Adams opened the scoring when she connected from 25 yards out. She later added a penalty kick, the game-winner in the second half.
In Sunday's 3-0 win, Taylor Stoeger scored the first goal when she collected a pass in front of goal and held off a defender long enough to put away her second of the season.
Coyle redirected a cross from Taylor Hansen to make it 2-0 with a header early in the second half. Allie Larsen scored from distance in the 79th minute to make it 3-0.
It was all a byproduct of how Portland State opted to defend Montana. The last two years it might have been enough to hold Montana down and force a draw.
Now it's an if you do that, we'll do this, if you do this, we'll do that kind of dynamic.
"That why Avery had so many shots on Friday," said Citowicki, referring to the Vikings' packing it in to take away chances for Montana's forwards. "They wanted to protect the space.
"So all our looks came from outside the box. And who's sitting outside the box who's almost never inside the box? Avery Adams. Now Allie Larsen is feeling like she can take some shots from distance. Rita Lang is feeling the same way.
"We've never been able to do that before. It's taken years to get to this point, but now we're dangerous in so many different ways. We're in a really good spot, and we're not even close to being done with our evolution."
Up next is Sacramento State, a team in fourth place in the division and in desperate need of wins after starting league 0-2-2.
"They are in a position where they need to start getting results," said Citowicki. "They are going to be ready to compete. They are going to come out to fight. That's what makes them dangerous."
Match notes:
* Friday's match will be the first this season for Montana on grass. The Grizzlies have played three home games on artificial turf at Missoula County Stadium and played Idaho twice in the Kibbie Dome.
* After opening the season with a 2-1 overtime home win over Saint Mary's, the Hornets played to four consecutive draws, scoring just two goals against Pacific (1-1), Oregon (1-1) and Eastern Washington (0-0 and 0-0).
* Sacramento State got outscored 4-1 at Idaho last weekend against the surging Vandals, who are 4-0-0 in their last four matches with a scoring margin of 14-1.
* The Hornets have scored five goals in seven matches, with the goals coming from five different players.
* Aaliyah Fesili, the Big Sky Goalkeeper of the Year last season and first-team all-league, is back. She has a 0.87 goals-against average this season.
* Avery Adams' goal in the 18th minute on Friday was the first of her career. Forty-eight minutes later she converted a penalty kick for the game-winner and career goal No. 2.
* Adams' first goal was set up by McKenzie Kilpatrick, whose assist gave Kilpatrick her first point of the season, the sixth of her career.
* Montana outshot Portland State in two matches 36-8. The Grizzlies put 19 of those shots on goal.
* Taylor Stoeger scored the game-winner on Sunday in the 14th minute off a feed from Allie Larsen, who would score her first collegiate goal in the 79th minute.
* It was season goal No. 2 for Stoeger, career goal No. 3. For Larsen, it was season assist No. 1, career assist No. 2. She assisted on Alexa Coyle's game-winner at Northern Arizona in 2019.
* Coyle scored her third of the season, the 17th of her career, early in the second half on Sunday. She now stands alone in 10th place on the Montana career list.
* Taylor Hansen, crosser extraordinaire, assisted on Coyle's goal. Hansen now has seven career assists. She has had at least one in each of her four seasons.
* Montana leads the Big Sky Conference in goals scored (2.0/g) and also goals allowed (0.2/g).
* Alexa Coyle leads the Big Sky in shots (3.2/g) and goals per game (0.6).
* Montana's Claire Howard (0.20/.929) and Sacramento State's Aaliyah Fesili (0.87/.873) rank first and second in the Big Sky in goals-against average and save percentage.
Around the Big Sky Conference:
* With two weekends of regular-season matches remaining, Montana (4-0-0) sits atop the Northwest Division, Northern Arizona (5-0-0) the Southeast Division.
* Northern Colorado also is undefeated in league at 2-0-0 in the Southeast. The Bears, who were off last week, had their series against Southern Utah earlier this month canceled because of weather.
* This week's series: Montana at Sacramento State, Idaho at Eastern Washington, Northern Arizona at Northern Colorado, Weber State at Idaho State.
* In the Northwest Division, Eastern Washington (2-0-2) and Idaho (4-2-0) are tied for second at 2.00 points per match, which is how the standings are based this season.
* Idaho enters the series on a four-match winning streak. Eastern Washington, off last weekend, is 3-0-2 in its last five and hasn't dropped a match since Feb. 22, 2-0 at Gonzaga.
* In the Southeast Division, Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado, which play each other this week, are both at 3.0 points per match, making their head-to-head matchup a big one on that side of the standings.
* Next week's series: Eastern Washington at Montana, Northern Colorado at Weber State, Idaho State at Southern Utah, Sacramento State at Portland State.
* The Big Sky Conference Championship semifinals will be played in Ogden on Thursday, April 15. The No. 1 seed from the Southeast will play the No. 2 seed from the Northwest at noon, the No. 1 seed from the Northwest and No. 2 seed from the Southeast will play at 3 p.m.
* The championship match will be played at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 17.
* NCAA tournament selections will be announced on Monday, April 19. The entire 48-team NCAA tournament will be played at various sites in North Carolina, with first-round matches being played on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 27-28.
Upcoming: Montana will close the regular season hosting Eastern Washington at Missoula County Stadium on Friday, April 9 (7 p.m.), and Sunday, April 11 (noon). The latter will serve as Senior Day.
Players Mentioned
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