Griz seeking fourth title in five seasons

The Montana soccer team will try to make it four tournament titles in five seasons when the Grizzlies open play this week at the Big Sky Conference Championship in Greeley, Colo.

No. 6 Montana will face No. 3 Portland State on Wednesday at 11 a.m. in the tournament's first of five matches at Northern Colorado's Jackson Stadium.

Semifinals will be played on Friday, the championship match on Sunday.

The field:

No. 1 Northern Arizona (8-5-4, 7-1-0 BSC): Picked fourth in the preseason poll, the Lumberjacks stormed to the regular-season title, their first in a non-COVID-impacted season since 2010. NAU lost its Big Sky opener, 1-0 at Weber State, then closed with seven straight wins, outscoring those opponents 12-1.

No. 2 Idaho (11-3-2, 6-2-0 BSC): Picked fifth in the preseason poll, the Vandals appeared to be headed toward the regular-season championship until losses to Northern Arizona and Sacramento State. After posting 10 straight shutouts, Idaho enters the postseason with at least one goal allowed in four straight matches.

No. 3 Portland State (5-7-5, 4-2-2 BSC): The Vikings went winless over their final three matches and have allowed 10 goals over their last five. PSU has just one win this season away from its home field, a 1-0 victory at Jackson Stadium over last-place Northern Colorado.

No. 4 Sacramento State (4-9-4, 4-3-1 BSC): After opening league with a 2-1 home loss to Montana to drop to 0-7-3 overall, the Hornets went 4-1-1 over their next six to win their way into the postseason. Sac State closed the season with a 2-0 loss at Northern Arizona.

No. 5 Weber State (5-11-0, 4-4-0 BSC): The Wildcats surged late to make the postseason. WSU was 2-11 on Oct. 15 but defeated Idaho State, Northern Colorado and Montana to close the season and make the tournament. Weber State was the only Big Sky team to defeat Northern Arizona this season.

No. 6 Montana (6-6-6, 3-4-1 BSC): The Grizzlies lost at Weber State on Sunday but still made the tournament field when Idaho defeated Eastern Washington. Montana hasn't won back-to-back matches since September and went 1-4-0 against the other teams playing for a title in Greeley.

The quarterfinals:

No. 6 Montana vs. No. 3 Portland State: The Vikings scored the match's only goal in the 28th minute when PSU defeated the Grizzlies 1-0 on Sept. 25. Montana outshot Portland State 18-12 and had an advantage in corner kicks, but Sidney O'Billovich made seven saves for the shutout.

No. 5 Weber State vs. No. 4 Sacramento State: Like Montana's match at Portland State, the Wildcats outshot the host Hornets and created more corner kicks, but it was Sacramento State that scored in the 40th minute to win 1-0 on Oct. 7.

The semifinals:

No. 2 Idaho vs. Montana/Portland State: The Vandals swept both of their potential semifinal opponents, winning 1-0 at Montana and 3-1 at home over Portland State.

No. 1 Northern Arizona vs. Weber State/Sacramento State: The Lumberjacks' lone loss in league came on the road, 1-0 to Weber State. NAU defeated the Hornets in Flagstaff last week, 2-0.

Montana tournament history:

* The Grizzlies are playing in their ninth consecutive Big Sky tournament, their league-record 21st overall. Montana has an all-time record of 17-11-4 and won tournament titles in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2011, 2018, 2020 and 2021.

* Montana is playing in the Big Sky tournament in Greeley, Colo., for the fourth time. In 2011 and 2021, the Grizzlies left town with the championship trophy. In 2019, Montana went one-and-done, losing as the No. 1 seed to No. 4 Northern Colorado in the semifinals.

* Montana is 6-1-0 in Big Sky tournament matches under fifth-year coach Chris Citowicki, with three goals allowed in seven matches. Five of the Grizzlies' six wins have come by shutout.

* Behind tournament MVP Camellia Xu, Montana won last year's tournament title in Greeley, winning twice by 1-0 scores. The Grizzlies defeated No. 6 Sacramento State in the semifinals, No. 4 Weber State in the championship match.

* This season is the first time under Citowicki that the Grizzlies enter the tournament coming off a loss in their final regular-season Big Sky match. Montana lost 2-0 at Weber State last Sunday.

* Montana is playing as the No. 6 seed for the first time. The Grizzlies were the No. 5 seed in 2015 and '18 and won the tournament in the latter with three shutouts in five days in Citowicki's first season at Montana.

* Montana is 6-5-2 all-time as the lower seed in Big Sky tournament matches. Three of those six wins came in 2018, when the Grizzlies played their way to the championship as the No. 5 seed.

Series history:

* Montana is 15-13-4 all-time against Portland State. The Vikings' win earlier this season in Hillsboro snapped Montana's six-match unbeaten streak against Portland State.

* The teams have split their two previous neutral-site matchups, both coming in Pocatello, Idaho, at Big Sky tournaments.

* Overall, Montana is 2-1-0 against Portland State in the Big Sky tournament, with a 4-0 victory in the semifinals in Missoula in 1997, a 1-0 loss at Idaho State in 2002 and a 3-2 win at Idaho State in 2012.

Summary:

Under fifth-year coach Chris Citowicki, Montana has won the Big Sky Conference tournament as the No. 5 seed and lost in its postseason opener as the No. 1 seed.

The Grizzlies have won as a COVID-era divisional champion and won last year as the No. 2 seed.

And none of those outcomes happen without getting to the postseason in the first place.

"When the season starts, you put down on a piece of paper that the goal is to make playoffs, because if you make playoffs, then you can get into the NCAA tournament," he said. "To get to the promised land, you have to go through this."

Not to mention that every tournament is a wide-open affair. Over the last decade, only in 2017, when Eastern Washington pulled it off, did the regular-season champion win the tournament title match.

"In playoffs, it's a whole new season. Everyone is 0-0. It's win or go home," Citowicki said. "We've had a lot of experience in this scenario previously that we're going to lean on. We have quality players who know what they're doing in that situation and aren't going to panic."

What's unusual this year is that Montana enters the postseason in a bit of a lull, having gone 2-4-1 over its final seven regular-season matches. Even more surprising is that the Grizzlies allowed at least one goal in seven of its eight Big Sky matches.

Montana allowed seven goal in nine Big Sky matches in 2018, Citowicki's first season, two in nine matches in 2019, five in eight matches in 2020 and four in nine matches in 2021, always less than a goal per match on average.

This year it was nine goals allowed in eight matches.

Defensive stinginess has been critical to Montana's postseason success in previous tournaments. In seven matches under Citowicki, the Grizzlies have allowed three goals and posted five shutouts.

"We've got to get everyone on the same page and solidify some things defensively," he said. "To lose that part, that's something we have to work on, to solidify that part of the game.

"Who knows what's going to happen (at the tournament)? We just know we're going to have to defend exceptionally well."

Montana won 2-1 at Idaho State in its penultimate regular-season match to put itself on the brink of a tournament spot, then had to hope Idaho could defeat Eastern Washington on the final day of the regular season after falling 2-0 at Weber State.

Montana played that match without senior Allie Larsen, who missed her first match as a Grizzly, Delaney Lou Schorr, the Big Sky's leading goal-scorer, and fifth-year senior McKenzie Kilpatrick.

"We made it to playoffs. How we made it, I don't think anybody is really pleased with," said Citowicki. "That's the piece we're all kind of frustrated with. At the end we had a squad that was patched together. We found whatever duct tape we had and made it work.

"When you're in playoffs, you never know what happens at that point. I feel like we're in a pretty good spot once everyone is healthy again."

Portland State will be playing in its first Big Sky tournament since 2019 and will go in as the No. 3 seed, its highest since 2014.

"It's always a tough matchup with them. Credit to them, there has been an evolution in their play. I think they've taken another step forward," said Citowicki. "It's a hard game but one I'm really looking forward to."

The winner will advance to face Idaho in the semifinals. It will be the Vandals' first match in 12 days.

Montana got a bye in 2019 as the No. 1 seed and lost in the semifinals. The Grizzlies earned a bye last fall as well, as the No. 2 seed, and escaped with a 1-0 victory on a goal in the closing minutes over Sacramento State, which looked like the more prepared team.

"To be honest, I don't like the bye. You end up waiting not until Wednesday of the following week but to Friday," Citowicki said.

"Sac State was better than us last year because they had played on Wednesday. They had momentum rolling and we sat around for two weeks doing nothing. That really hurt us. We got lucky to beat them at the tail end of it. I'm looking forward to it. It's another game to get us ready."

A note about overtime in the postseason: Teams will play two 10-minute overtimes, even if the go-ahead goal is scored. If the match is deadlocked after the second overtime, the match will go to a shootout.

Montana notes:

* Sophomore Delaney Lou Schorr led the Big Sky in goals scored during the regular season with seven. That matches the most goals scored by a Grizzly since Erin Craig totaled 10 in 2011.

* Junior Maysa Walters tied for the Big Sky lead with six assists. Ava Samuelson tied for fourth with four. Walters' total is tied for the most for a Grizzly since India Watne's eight in 2011.

* Camellia Xu ranked third in the Big Sky in goals-against average (.889) and shutouts (seven).

* In Montana's 2-1 win at Idaho State on Friday, Oct. 21, the Grizzlies' goals were both career firsts. Ava Samuelson scored in the 13th minute, Maddie Ditta in the 72nd.

* Montana averaged 417 fans per game in 2022, the most since the 2018 team also averaged 417. Prior to that, the highest average was 476 in 2014.

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