Griz add transfer, strengthen already formidable back line

It was difficult to tell this week who was most excited that Charley Boone has signed a scholarship offer and will join the Montana soccer program for the 2021 season.

After all, Boone, who played one year at Gonzaga before seeking out new opportunities, was ranked as the 13th-best defender in the entire nation for her class by Top Drawer Soccer.

Now she joins a program that has used strong defensive play to go to the NCAA tournament two of the last three years.

So it was no surprise fourth-year coach Chris Citowicki, whose teams have allowed 47 goals in 52 matches through his first three seasons, had an extra bounce in his step around the office this week.

"She fits the mold of center back we look to have in our program," he said, "someone who can play out of the back and defend at the same time. She has a composure I love in center backs.

"To pick up someone this late, you couldn't have asked for someone better than Charley. She's fit, strong and eager for a fresh start. She'll be very comfortable playing with us."

Boone, a graduate of Roosevelt High, hails from Seattle and is a product of the high-level Crossfire Premier Soccer Club, where she played with future Division I talent year after year, season after season.

She was on a team that was ranked as high as No. 2 nationally in 2018. In 2019 her team won Surf Cup. In 2020, her ECNL team finished undefeated and ranked second in the nation.

She's gone all over the country to play, even traveled to Sweden and Spain, and now she's going to relocate to Missoula, but it's more than just a soccer destination. It's a family thing.

William T. and Marion Boone, her great-grandparents, graduated from Montana in 1933. He would go on to law school and found Boone Karlberg, attorneys at law, which is still in operation in Missoula.

One of the practicing attorneys there today is William T.'s son, Tom Boone, Charley's grandfather, who lives just blocks from campus and is a member of both the Quarterback Club and Roundball Club.

He was raised in Missoula, educated at Harvard, then returned to Montana and has had a connection to his local university ever since.

He was awarded the UM Foundation's Neil S. Bucklew Presidential Service Award in 1997 for exemplifying service and commitment to the school.

He's served on the Foundation's board, for a time as chair, as has his wife, Ann. He even has a university award named for him, the Tom Boone Town and Gown Award for a faculty member who has fostered a deeper understanding between the school and the community.

The Community Lecture Series put on by the UM Alumni Association? It's founding has Ann's fingerprints all over it.

So when their granddaughter takes the field for the first time a month from today, on Aug. 15 for a home exhibition match against Rocky Mountain, it will mean something, a Boone as a Grizzly.

"We're certainly excited about it," Tom Boone said. "It should be a great place for her not only to play soccer but continue on in her education.

"She's been a strong student and I think she'll excel academically, and we hope will get a reasonable chance to show she's a good soccer player."

She's been showing that for years. It's why she was one of just 72 players from around the country in the 2002 and '03 age groups to be invited to the US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program National Training Camp in 2016 and '17.

And why her ODP team went to Phoenix in 2016 and won the Region IV championship, with Boone making the all-tournament list after playing every minute of every match for a squad that didn't allow a single goal.

And why she was first-team All-Metro Sound Conference as a freshman at Seattle Preparatory School, the conference MVP as a senior at Roosevelt High, all at defender, the position she's gravitated toward since she first started kicking around a soccer ball.

"I'm not super flashy or a showy player, but I'm pretty consistent," said Boone, whose dad, Jeff, is a graduate of Hellgate High. He went on to get a graduate degree in architecture at Washington, then remained when he got a job in Seattle.

"I like that position because I can see the whole field, and I like being more in control. I can be a leader from the back."

She'll join the Montana defense at a time of transition.

The back line, particularly center back, is loaded, with Allie Larsen, second-team All-Big Sky Conference, and Molly Quarry returning after starting all 11 matches in the spring, as Montana went 9-2-0 and advanced to the NCAA tournament.

Also coming back is fifth-year senior Caitlin Rogers, the Big Sky co-Defensive MVP in 2019, who missed a majority of the spring season as she returned from injury.

The major change comes behind them, where Claire Howard, the Big Sky Goalkeeper of the Year as a senior in the spring and the league's all-time leader in career shutouts, will need to be replaced by someone who has yet to play a minute of college soccer.

The candidates to fill those rather large shoes are junior Elizabeth Todd, redshirt freshman Camellia Xu and freshman Sophia Pierce.

"It's exciting. It will be fun to see them come out of their shell and showcase themselves," Boone said. "Someone will get a chance to unlock herself and fully rise to her potential.

"It will be exciting to learn their style of play and how they like to be talked to and played with."

She never got that chance at Gonzaga, where she played limited minutes in the spring. So she looked elsewhere, only to find the right place in a city where Boones have been making a name for themselves for nearly a century.

"I loved the community feeling I felt when I was there and their style of play," she said. "I also really liked how Chris is super positive and how he's building a winning program."

Montana will hold its first practice on Tuesday, Aug. 3. The Grizzlies will face Rocky Mountain in an exhibition match on the 15th, then open the regular season at Creighton on Aug. 19.

Montana's home opener, against Portland, will take place three days later, on Sunday, Aug. 22.

University of Montana Athletics

Griz add transfer, strengthen already formidable back line

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Players Mentioned

Charley Boone

Claire Howard

Allie Larsen

Sophia Pierce

Molly Quarry

Caitlin Rogers

Elizabeth Todd

Camellia Xu

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