Montana finalizes fall schedule

The Montana soccer team, which will be trying to win its third consecutive Big Sky Conference regular-season title this fall, has finalized its 2021 schedule.

Counting their season-opening exhibition match against Rocky Mountain on Sunday, Aug. 15, the Grizzlies will play nine home matches at South Campus Stadium.

Montana, which opens the regular season at Creighton on Thursday, Aug. 19, will host Portland, MSU Billings, Texas Southern and Boise State during the nonconference portion of its schedule.

The Grizzlies will get Sacramento State, Portland State, Weber State and Idaho State at home during league.

"The nonconference is pretty well balanced. I love the trips we have and I love the teams we're bringing in to play," said fourth-year coach Chris Citowicki.

Montana, which went 9-2-0 in the spring and advanced to its fifth NCAA tournament, will challenge itself early, opening the season with a road match at Creighton, followed by a home match three days later against Portland.

The Bluejays, like the Grizzlies, have been to five NCAA tournaments. Their spring season ended at the Big East tournament with an overtime loss to Georgetown, a team that would go on to earn a No. 13 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Portland has played in 21 NCAA tournaments and won NCAA titles in 2002 and '05.

Montana will play at Cal Poly and host MSU Billings to close out August, then face Gonzaga in Spokane on Labor Day weekend.

The highlight weekend of the nonconference will be home matches against Texas Southern and Boise State on Friday, Sept. 10, and Sunday, Sept. 12.

Those matches will bookend the Montana football team's home debut against Western Illinois on the 11th, making it a sports-filled weekend.

Montana will conclude its nonconference schedule with a match at Long Beach State on Thursday, Sept. 16.

The Grizzlies could have played more nonconference matches, but Citowicki erred on the side of scheduling caution, given that his team concluded its spring schedule on April 28.

"The concern was playing in the spring, then having a very short time off in the summer, then going right back into it," he said. "We just played a very competitive season that went a very long time compared to some other schools.

"Injuries and fatigue are the things that can derail a season. All of sudden you can't compete the way you want to compete. We're trying to avoid that by being balanced in our nonconference play so we can be fresh and ready to go for what matters."

Montana made the four-team Big Sky tournament in April. The Grizzlies will face the other three qualifiers on the road this fall, starting with a match at Northern Arizona on Friday, Sept. 24.

That will be the matchup that was supposed to take place in the Big Sky tournament championship in Ogden in April, but that game went unplayed when the Lumberjacks ran into COVID issues. The no-contest result sent Montana to the NCAA tournament.

The Grizzlies will play at Northern Colorado on Sunday, Oct. 10, against the team they knocked off in overtime at the Big Sky tournament, then turn around and face Idaho, also a tournament qualifier, and Eastern Washington on the road, a key eight-day segment.

Montana will conclude the regular season at home hosting Weber State and Idaho State.

"I think it's going to be one of the more balanced years when it comes to conference play. It's going to be extremely competitive in my opinion, very tight," said Citowicki.

"Every week is just difficult and complicated, so you've got to be ready. You've got to get the results you need to get to playoffs, then see what happens from there."

The six-team Big Sky tournament will be hosted by Northern Colorado in Greeley, with quarterfinal matches on Wednesday, Nov. 3, semifinals on Friday the 5th, the championship match on Sunday the 7th.

Montana returns six of the 11 starters who opened the match against South Carolina in the opening round of the NCAA tournament in April.

University of Montana Athletics

Related News

Related Videos