Montana blanks Carroll in exhibition finale

Taylor Hansen has been here before. Actually it's her fifth time going into a regular-season opener, a one-year extension granted by the NCAA to address the COVID disruptions of 2020-21.

So she spoke with a certain level of authority when she was asked on Monday afternoon at South Campus Stadium if Montana is ready to face Creighton on Thursday night in Omaha, Neb.

"Yes," said Hansen -- answering like she plays: directly and efficiently -- after the Grizzlies defeated Rocky Mountain 9-0 on Sunday and followed it up with a 7-0 shutout of Carroll on Monday.

Asked to elaborate, she said, "This year just came with a new energy. Ali Monroe said 'zest,' and she was right.

"The girls before us really set the tone and started something that we want to continue, so the girls coming in know what we've accomplished in the past, and they are trying to continue that as well."

That appeared to be the case on Sunday, when Montana went 25 players deep to defeat Rocky Mountain. It was more of the same on Monday.

Montana led 1-0 after the first 30-minute period, 5-0 after two and 7-0 when the final horn sounded.

Taylor Stoeger, scorer of two goals on Sunday, added two more on Monday. Also scoring against Carroll: Zoe Transtrum, Jaden Griggs, Sami Siems, Quinn Peacock and Ava Samuelson.

As impressive as the 16 goals were, it was Montana's work on the other side of the ball -- no surprise there -- that squeezed the life out of its two opponents.

The Grizzlies allowed four shots to Rocky Mountain. On Monday, it was just two for Carroll. None of those six shots over two matches was on goal.

Bigger, faster, stronger was part of the reason. What stood out more was the organization. Whatever the opponent tried, the Grizzlies were there, snuffing it out before it could become something even approaching dangerous.

"It didn't matter who was on the field, they were in the right place at the right time to defend," said fourth-year coach Chris Citowicki, whose first three teams allowed 48 goals in 52 matches.

"If you can't do that, you can't get on the field. They all know that's the entry ticket they have to pay to get into the show, so they take pride in defending well. If you don't, you have no chance."

The two exhibition matches were scheduled -- perhaps dangerously -- close to Montana's regular-season opener on Thursday night at Creighton, but Citowicki had a plan.

He went 25 deep in each match and managed the minutes to limit players to around 90 minutes or less over the two matches, both played in temperatures in the low 90s.

In the risk-reward balance, he maybe toyed with the former but will gladly accept in full the latter. The two matches were exactly what the Grizzlies needed.

"These were more important than a training session," he said. "We've seen a lot of good things in practice. To put people in these situations to see whether or not they can actually execute under pressure from somebody else is exceptionally important.

"When we evaluate whether you're ready to play, you've got to be able to do it in practice, then you have to be able to do it in a game, then you have to be able to do it in a game that matters when everything is on the line. This is where you start to see what works and what doesn't."

Citowicki went with his most experienced lineup for the first and third periods on Sunday. That gave those fighting to break into that group the first and third periods on Monday.

Montana outshot Carroll 10-0 in the first period, but it wasn't until Transtrum's goal at 24:43 that the Grizzlies got on the board.

With the Hansen- and Stoeger-led group playing the second 30 minutes, Montana scored four goals in less than 10 minutes to pull away.

First it was Stoeger, then Griggs, then Siems, then Stoeger again off an assist from Hansen.

In the final period, Peacock punched in a Skyleigh Thompson shot that came back into play off the crossbar. Samuelson added the final goal off an assist from Peacock.

Montana finished with a 36-2 advantage in shots. Nineteen of those were put on goal, with Carroll keepers Hattie Larson and Alexandra Moeller combining to make 12 saves.

Montana will face the Bluejays at 6 p.m. (MT) on Thursday at Creighton's Morrison Stadium. "We're ready. We're prepared," said Hansen.

University of Montana Athletics

Related News

Players Mentioned

Jaden Griggs

Taylor Hansen

Ali Monroe

Quinn Peacock

Ava Samuelson

Sami Siems

Taylor Stoeger

Skyleigh Thompson

Zoe Transtrum

Related Videos