Soccer program names 2021 captains

The Montana soccer program, which has won four Big Sky Conference regular-season and tournament championships over the last three years, has named its captains for the upcoming 2021 fall season.

Fifth-year senior Taylor Hansen, a United Soccer Coaches first-team All-West Region selection in the spring, and redshirt junior Ali Monroe were voted captains by their teammates.

Seniors McKenzie Kilpatrick, Caitlin Rogers and Taylor Stoeger, and junior Allie Larsen will serve as the team's third game-day captain on a rotating basis.

"We've had wonderful leaders before, and this is a continuation of that," said fourth-year coach Chris Citowicki.

"Based on voting, these are the people their teammates want to listen to and follow. These are the ones they believe influence them."

Last season's captains, Avery Adams, Alexa Coyle and Claire Howard, led Montana to a Big Sky Conference Northwest Division title, a tournament championship and the program's fifth NCAA tournament appearance.

The Grizzlies went 8-1-0 during the regular season and finished 9-2-0 overall after dropping a 1-0 decision to South Carolina in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. It was the best single-season winning percentage in program history.

"After having three alphas, so to speak, in that role in the spring, we asked the team, hey, what do you want?" says Citowicki.

They wanted Hansen and Monroe by a wide margin, with the other four players also receiving a good share of the votes.

"We wanted to invite (those four) into this because they are helping guide this program as well," said Citowicki, "so it's more of a network, a group of two surrounded by a network of four."

Hansen had a breakout season as a junior in 2019, when she was voted third-team All-West Region and first-team All-Big Sky.

The outside back, who played all but 13 minutes over 11 matches, did it all in the 2021 spring season, finishing fourth on the team in points while also helping Montana post six shutouts and allow just seven goals.

"I know Taylor was kind of hurt last year to not be a captain, but it wasn't the right time. She wasn't ready yet," said Citowicki.

"The amount of growth she's gone through the last year, she's just taken it to another level. She's ready to use her voice to make others better.

"The timing couldn't be better. It's the final step she has to take before she'll be ready to go on to her professional career or whatever she wants to do."

Monroe, a holding midfielder, arrived at Montana in the winter of 2018, an early enrollee, and it was clear even then, in her first days in the program, that she was destined for the position of captain one day.

She started 17 of 21 matches as a true freshman on Montana's NCAA qualifier in 2018 and the first five matches of 2019 before losing the rest of the season to an injury.

She played in nine of 11 matches in the spring, averaging 26 minutes per appearance, but her leadership within the program has never been based solely on what she does on the field.

"There are a lot of things that happen behind the scenes, and if that's done incorrectly, everything falls apart," said Citowicki. "She is the type of person who keeps the culture together extremely well off the field.

"From the moment she got here, it was clear she was going to be a leader in the program one day. She just has that about her. She is somebody everyone just gravitates toward, so it's not a surprise she got as many votes as she did."

Montana's fall campaign will open in early August with the first practice of the season. The team's 2021 schedule should be finalized soon.

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Avery Adams

Alexa Coyle

Taylor Hansen

Claire Howard

McKenzie Kilpatrick

Allie Larsen

Ali Monroe

Caitlin Rogers

Taylor Stoeger

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