Griz win in overtime, advance to title match

Thursday, April 15

Ogden, Utah

3 PM

Montana

9-1-0

Northern Colorado

3-3-2

Northern Colorado

Montana

Photos: Weber State Athletics

4/15/2021 7:10:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana soccer team advanced to the championship match of the Big Sky Conference tournament with a 2-1 overtime victory over Northern Colorado on Thursday afternoon in Ogden, Utah.

Taylor Stoeger scored both goals for the Grizzlies (9-1-0). She opened the scoring in the 59th minute with a shot from 30 yards out. She added the game-winner in the 96th from just a few feet out.

She is just the fifth player in program history to score a pair of goals in a postseason game.

"We talk about it all the time, that it just takes that one moment," she said. "Each team is going to get chances. You've got to find that one moment and finish it."

Thursday's semifinal marked the fourth straight season Montana and Northern Colorado have met up at the Big Sky tournament. It was the third time the match went into overtime.

"It's going to go to overtime. It's going to be tight. There you go. Exactly the way it played out," said coach Chris Citowicki, who improved to 4-1-0 in Big Sky tournament matches.

"You have to find a way to win, and Taylor Stoeger had a day."

After an even, scoreless first half, Stoeger got Montana on the board. She got the ball in the center of the field, saw she had time and space, considered her options, then booted a laser into the upper-right corner.

"I felt like I had plenty of time. I took a touch, looked up and kind of saw an open net, so I figured I might as well take a shot," she said.

It was her third goal of the season, the fourth of her career.

Montana didn't get passive at that point, but the Grizzlies didn't match the urgency of the Bears as the match moved deeper into the second half.

Northern Colorado created seven corner kicks in the second half and had 55 percent of the possession. The Bears tied it in the 77th minute.

Maddie Duren, from 25 yards out, sent a ball at a wall of Montana defenders. Griz goalkeeper Claire Howard played its path, but the ball deflected off one of her teammates and into the goal.

"I wish we could have responded a little better after going up 1-0," said Citowicki. "I felt like we let them come on to us a little bit.

"That's the only thing we can tighten up a little bit. Besides that, I thought it was a good overall performance from the group."

While it was Stoeger's goal that defined the nearly six minutes played in overtime, it was a tactical decision made by Montana's coaching staff that created the game-winning moment.

"Kudos to (assistant coach J. Landham). We're going to overtime and he says we have to change formations for this reason, this reason and this reason," said Citowicki.

"We decided we were going to give them a different look because they had kind of solved our initial formation. J. convinced me we needed to change it up."

That change led to an opportunity for an unexpected (secondary) hero.

The box score shows Molly Massman played just six minutes, all in the overtime, fewest of the 17 players Montana sent onto the field on Thursday. Her impact per minute played was off the charts.

"Molly came in and just dominated the midfield," said Citowicki. "That led to the breakdowns that led to the goal. She got into the game and got it done for us."

The play started as so many of Montana's dangerous ones do, with Allie Larsen taking a free kick.

Northern Colorado, at the top of the box, headed it out of trouble but right to Taylor Hansen, who spun and played it right back toward the goal.

UNC's defenders froze, leaving goalkeeper Ashley Franza on an island, with a wave of three Montana players, Stoeger, Alexa Coyle and Jaden Griggs, crashing toward her.

The ball bounced over Franza, leaving Stoeger with the easy tap-in, without a Northern Colorado defender in sight.

"It's something we work on all the time. Taylor gets the ball out wide and we know she is going to immediately send it back in, so we're very disciplined on those runs," said Stoeger.

"We held our runs, took our time and no one followed us in."

That Montana outshot Northern Colorado 10-8 and that Howard needed to make only three saves is the hidden story.

The Bears took 10 corner kicks (to three for the Grizzlies) and had just as many dangerous balls enter the box off flip throws by Maddie Barkow, corner kicks in every way but by strict definition.

"The amount of prep we put into that, it was amazing to see how well we defended it. I'm really proud of the team," said Citowicki.

Montana advances to face Northern Arizona in Saturday's championship match, which starts at 3:30 p.m.

The Lumberjacks (7-2-1), champions of the Southeast Division, defeated Idaho 1-0 in Thursday's first semifinal on a penalty kick in the first half.

It will be Montana's 10th appearance in the tournament title match in program history, its second in three years under Citowicki.

"They are built in (coach Kylie Louw's) image to perfection," said Citowicki. "If you saw Kylie play, she was a hard-nosed player, big tackle, big moments, played about 10 feet taller than she actually is.

"That's how her team plays. They are going to scrap, they are going to fight, they are not going to let us get away with anything. It's going to be fun, a firecracker of a final."