Griz bounce back, surge into postseason

Sunday, April 11

Missoula, Mont.

Noon

Montana

8-1-0, 7-1-0BSC

Eastern Washington

5-4-2, 4-2-2BSC

Eastern Washington

Montana

4/11/2021 4:49:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Two days after taking its first loss of the season, the Montana soccer team bounced back in a big way, downing Eastern Washington 3-1 on Sunday afternoon at Missoula County Stadium.

Mimi Eiden and Rita Lang, two of the seven players honored prior to the match on Senior Day, scored in the first half to give the Grizzlies (8-1-0, 7-1-0 BSC) a 2-0 lead at the break.

After the Eagles (5-4-2, 4-2-2 BSC) scored in the 64th minute to make it 2-1, Alexa Coyle converted a penalty kick less than two minutes later for the game's final goal.

Eastern Washington opened the series on Friday night with a shocking 3-2 overtime victory that snapped Montana's 19-game regular-season unbeaten streak against Big Sky opponents.

"I almost feel like we needed it in a way," said Lang. "The loss on Friday night kind of gave us a kick in the butt.

"Games like that are going to happen. It's how you respond to it. I think our team had an immense response. We came out with intensity and played our game."

The win sends Montana into the postseason with an 8-1-0 overall record. The Grizzlies went 7-1-0 to win the Big Sky Conference Northwest Division by two games.

After being put on its heels early on Friday night, Montana flipped that script on Sunday. The Grizzlies led 2-0 before the match was seven minutes in.

"We came out with an energy that today was going to be a different day," said Lang. "We're Montana. We play strong, we play together.

"The energy was so high. We wanted to do it for one another. You could tell people wanted to work hard for the people next to them. We were all on the same page."

They were, from the start.

In the third minute, Allie Larsen, so good on free kicks from distance, put one in the box that Taylor Stoeger headed. The ball landed at Eiden's feet for the easy put-away.

It was the first career goal for the transfer from North Dakota.

"I was like, easy tap, Mimi, so I tapped it in. It was exciting," said Eiden. "We finished our chances today, which was huge. On Friday we had a lot of chances but didn't finish them. Today we were right on spot."

That's where Lang was, in the right spot, four minutes later, on the receiving end of an Avery Adams corner kick. Lang crashed the box like a woman on a mission and headed in career goal No. 7.

The redirect, off Adams' fifth career assist, happened so quickly, the ball was past the Eastern Washington goalkeeper and defenders before they knew what had happened.

"I went to go find the ball. I wanted it so bad," Lang said. "I wanted to do it for all the other seniors. I wanted to make this day the best it could possibly be."

For most other league opponents, the outcome, down 2-0 and facing Claire Howard in goal, would have been decided with 83 minutes still to be played. The rest would have been going through the motions.

Not Eastern Washington.

Before Montana had taken a shot in the second half, the Eagles missed on a penalty kick they sent off the crossbar in the 47th minute and made it 2-1 with a goal in the 64th.

Eastern Washington would outshoot Montana 9-2 in the second half and finish with a 12-10 edge for the game.

"I said earlier in the week there is not a team I'd rather play than Eastern right now," said coach Chris Citowicki. "They gave us all the lessons we have to learn before we go to playoffs.

"The stress they piled on us in the second half was playoff stress. We can't drop into a shell and let a team have the ball that much, so we learned a lot of valuable lessons this weekend."

Less than two minutes later, Montana again made it a two-goal lead.

After Kendall Furrow was hindered by a jersey-pull in the box on a free kick, the Grizzlies were awarded a penalty kick. Coyle converted for season goal No. 5, career goal No. 19.

"What I'm happy with is it being 2-1, then going off and scoring and making it 3-1 and saying, no, you're not getting any closer than that," said Citowicki.

Needing a win or a draw to qualify for the four-team Big Sky Championship, Eastern Washington was finally facing a deficit the Eagles couldn't overcome.

The Grizzlies will now head to Ogden, Utah, on Tuesday for a semifinal matchup against Northern Colorado, the No. 2 seed out of the Southeast Division, at 3 p.m. on Thursday.

The Bears ended top-seeded Montana's season in the Big Sky semifinals in the last league tournament, in November 2019, 2-1 in overtime, so this one is going to mean something.

"Claire Howard, in her speech (after Friday's loss), said, 'We lost the battle but the war is playoffs,' and we're going to war at playoffs," said Citowicki.

Northern Arizona, the top seed from the Southeast Division, will face Idaho, the No. 2 seed from the Northwest Division, in Thursday's opening semifinal at noon.

The tournament championship match will be played on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.