Griz close home schedule with Lumberjacks

The Montana soccer team will wrap up a four-match home stand and play its final game this fall at South Campus Stadium when it hosts Northern Arizona on Sunday.

The Grizzlies (5-4-6, 2-2-1 BSC) and Lumberjacks (4-5-4, 3-1-0 BSC) will kick off at noon on what will double as Senior Day for Montana.

Northern Arizona, the Big Sky Conference's lone wolf this fall in its nine-team schedule, will open its road trip with a match at Northern Colorado on Thursday night.

Montana will conclude its regular-season schedule next week with games at Idaho State on Friday, Oct. 21, and Weber State, on Sunday, Oct. 23.

The six-team conference tournament will open on Wednesday, Nov. 2, in Greeley, Colo.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies, who had gone winless and without a goal scored in their previous three matches, got a much-needed win on Sunday afternoon at home against Northern Colorado.

Despite getting outshot 8-0 over the match's first 40 minutes, Montana opened the scoring in the 42nd minute, then went up 2-0 in the first minute of the second half.

The Grizzlies played 10 on 11 the final 22 minutes after a red card sent a player to the bench. The Bears made it 2-1 in the 76th minute, but Montana held Northern Colorado without a shot over the match's final 10 minutes.

It was Montana's first win in Missoula over Northern Colorado since 2014 and the Grizzlies' third win over the Bears in the teams' last 11 matchups.

Montana's first goal against the Bears came from Eliza Bentler, who put away a cross from fellow freshman Reeve Borseth. It was Bentler's second goal of the season, Borseth's first collegiate point.

The Grizzlies went up 2-0 at 45:47 when Maysa Walters took a free kick from 40 yards out and put it in front of the right post. That's where Delaney Lou Schorr was positioned to head the ball to the ground and bouncing past UNC's goalkeeper.

It was Schorr's Big Sky-leading sixth goal of the season, Walters' Big Sky-leading sixth assist of the season. Schorr is tied for first with three game-winning goals. She ranks second in points with 13.

Sophomore goalkeeper Camellia Xu ranks second in the Big Sky in shutouts (7), third in goals-against average (.733) and save percentage (.820).

Northern Colorado outshot Montana 15-6. It was a season low for the Grizzlies and just the third time this season they have been outshot by an opponent. Didn't matter.

At a glance (Northern Arizona): It took until October for the Lumberjacks to pick up their first Division I win, but they've gotten on a roll the last month, going 4-1-2 over their last seven matches, with three straight shutout wins in league.

NAU opened its league schedule with a 1-0 loss at Weber State but has since won at Idaho State, 1-0, and last weekend swept Eastern Washington and Idaho in Flagstaff, 2-0 and 1-0.

The latter result was notable in that it handed the Vandals their first league loss and their first defeat since Aug. 21. The goal the Lumberjacks scored, at 44:58 of the first half, snapped Idaho's streak of 10 consecutive shutouts.

That goal and the game-winner three days earlier against Eastern Washington were scored by junior Maddie Shafer, this week's Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week.

Shafer has five goals on the season, four assists and leads the Big Sky in points with 14.

Sophomore goalkeeper Trinity Corcoran, Tuesday's Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week, enters the road trip with a record of 4-2-3 and is working on a streak of three straight shutouts. Her goals-against average of 0.56 leads the Big Sky and ranks 19th nationally.

Northern Arizona went winless (0-4-2) through its first six matches of the season, then defeated Ottawa 11-0 for victory No. 1 on Sept. 15. NAU's first Division I win came on Oct. 2 at Idaho State.

The Lumberjacks lead the Big Sky in shots (20.1/g), shots on goal (9.2/g) and goals scored (22), the last of which is buoyed by those 11 goals scored against Ottawa.

Series history: Montana leads the series with Northern Arizona 17-6-5 and has gone 9-1-3 against the Lumberjacks in Missoula. The Grizzlies' lone loss to NAU in Missoula was a 2-1 setback in 2013.

The teams will be playing in Missoula for the first time since 2018.

Montana has won three straight against Northern Arizona, all by a 1-0 score, and has gone 4-0-4 against the Lumberjacks since that loss in 2013. The Grizzlies are 3-0-1 against NAU under coach Chris Citowicki.

Senior Day note: Five seniors will be recognized prior to Sunday's match: McKenzie Kilpatrick, Jaden Griggs, Sydney Haustein, Allie Larsen and Molly Massman.

Summary:

Before Montana faces Northern Arizona on Sunday afternoon, five players will be recognized on Senior Day.

McKenzie Kilpatrick has been with coach Chris Citowicki since his first practice with the Grizzlies in 2018. The other four were part of his first recruiting class that arrived in 2019.

Kilpatrick, playing in her fifth season, has won at least one Big Sky championship in her first four years: a tournament title in 2018, a regular-season championship in 2019, both in 2020 (a season played in the spring of 2021) and a tournament title last fall. She's been to three NCAA tournaments.

The other four players have also enjoyed their share of success.

"When I recruited them, I didn't know where we were going to go or what we were going to achieve," said Citowicki. "The fact they've brought home so many Big Sky championships and have taken this program to such heights, it's extraordinary."

When the match commences, it will be third-place Northern Arizona trying to further cement its spot in the six-team Big Sky Conference tournament. Montana, tied for fifth, will be trying to do the same.

The Grizzlies took a step in the right direction when they knocked off preseason favorite Northern Colorado at South Campus Stadium on Sunday.

"Got the result we needed. It was definitely a must-win," said Citowicki. "If you look at the tiebreakers, we would have been outside of playoffs, hoping for results to go our way in other games just to sneak into playoffs.

"It ended up being one of those games that you have to get points, you have to find a way to win. Doesn't matter what it looks like, just win the game. Really proud of them for pulling that off at the end of the day."

It was the type of league match Montana most recently experienced in 2018, in Citowicki's first year, when Montana needed a result at Portland State late in the season to make the tournament and got it with a 1-0 win.

Playing with a sense of desperation, the Grizzlies outshot the Vikings 17-7 and created nine corner kicks to PSU's one.

Montana has mostly rolled through the league ever since, winning the regular-season title in 2019, regular-season and tournament championships in 2020 and another tournament title in 2021 after finishing second in league.

"In 2018 we had to scrap our way to results to make playoffs, then we've gone through this era of peace and prosperity and getting things done," said Citowicki.

"By now, everybody who was part of that 2018 group, who knew what it was like to have to scrap for every result, is gone. I thought we'd be in this position next year, when we are trying to relearn and rebuild the culture of people who don't know what it's like to lose yet."

The first sign that things were not quite right was Montana's 1-0 loss at Portland State on Sept. 25. That was followed by a rare home loss to a Big Sky opponent, a 1-0 setback to Idaho. That was followed two days later by a 0-0 draw with Eastern Washington.

Montana was playing well but without much to show for it in the standings.

"I was trying to figure it out. Why did we lose to Portland State? Why did we lose to Idaho? Why did we tie Eastern when we're playing well? It wasn't making any sense," said Citowicki.

"It finally slapped me in the face. This whole thing is coming around again. They started to get sick of it. Northern Colorado was not our best performance but we found a way to win. That's the kindling you need to rebuild the culture to start that whole new era again. That in itself is so powerful."

Montana will put that mentality up against a team that is surging. Northern Arizona has a chance to make it four straight wins when it plays at Northern Colorado on Thursday night.

"Northern Arizona rebooted quite well," said Citowicki. "They went through a tough nonconference slate but the past few games they've played extremely well.

"They are a set-piece-heavy team. Very good on flip throws, very good on corners, very good on free kicks. You have to make sure you play a clean game and control the ball. If you're in control of possession, you can't foul them and they can't get what they want."

Around the Big Sky:

* Portland State, picked eighth out of nine teams in the preseason poll, is the surprising leader of the Big Sky with two weekends of league matches remaining. The Vikings, who entered league 0-5-3 against Division I opponents, are 4-0-1 but play their final three matches on the road.

* Idaho, at 4-1-0, is a point behind as teams look to finish in the top two and get a bye to the Big Sky tournament semifinals and win the regular-season title, which brings with it 2023 tournament hosting rights.

* Northern Arizona, at 3-1-0, is in third and sitting in a strong position. The Lumberjacks are the only Big Sky team with four matches still remaining. Everyone else has just three matches left.

* Eastern Washington (2-1-2) is in fourth, followed by Montana and Sacramento State, both of which are 2-2-1.

* It should be a big weekend of movement – and perhaps clarity – in the standings with Portland State playing matches at Idaho and Eastern Washington.

* Thursday in the Big Sky: NAU at UNC … The Bears (0-4-1) need a win if they want to keep their hopes of the postseason alive. UNC was picked first in the preseason poll and will host the Big Sky tournament in November.

* Friday in the Big Sky: SAC at EWU, PSU at UI … All four teams are currently in the top six in the standings and collectively 12-4-4 in league.

* Sunday in the Big Sky: NAU at UM, WSU at ISU, PSU at EWU, SAC at UI … Weber State and Idaho State are 1-4-0 in league and currently on the outside looking in at the potential tournament field. Both need a win on Sunday in their only match of the week.

* Looking ahead to next week in the league:

Friday, Oct. 21: UM at ISU, UNC at WSU, SAC at NAU
Sunday, Oct. 23: UM at WSU, UNC at ISU, EWU at UI, PSU at NAU

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Players Mentioned

Eliza Bentler

Reeve Borseth

Jaden Griggs

Sydney Haustein

McKenzie Kilpatrick

Allie Larsen

Molly Massman

Delaney Lou Schorr

Maysa Walters

Camellia Xu

University of Montana Athletics