Soccer program signs six to NLIs

The Montana soccer program has signed six prep players to National Letters of Intent.

Coach Chris Citowicki, who completed his fifth season leading the Grizzlies earlier this month, has added players from Washington, Oregon, Utah, Minnesota and Georgia.

On the defensive end of the field, he signed goalkeeper Bayliss Flynn (Edina, Minn./Edina HS), outside back Lucie Rokos (Portland, Ore./Jesuit HS) and center back Riley Carolan (Seattle, Wash./Bishop Blanchet HS).

On the other end: forwards Abby Smith (Corvallis, Ore./Crescent Valley HS) and Taija Anderson (Bluffdale, Utah/Real Salt Lake Academy), and midfielder Perrin Pennington (Athens, Ga./Oconee County HS).

Citowicki has led Montana to three NCAA tournaments and a pair of Big Sky Conference regular-season championships in five seasons.

"This group adds to what we have and allows this thing to keep going," said Citowicki. "They will allow us to continue being the program that we are.

"Some of them could be pretty impactful pretty quickly. There is a superstar in there. I just don't know which one. I'm excited to get them here."

Flynn recently was selected to compete next month in the High School All-American Game in Panama City, Fla. She is just one of four goalkeepers on the East and West rosters. The others are committed to Ohio State, Boston College and Kansas.

"Really excited to add a player of her caliber. Just incredibly talented," said Citowicki, who has two-year starter Camellia Xu, the 2021 Big Sky Goalkeeper of the Year, on his roster, as well as Ashlyn Dvorak, a highly ranked signee in last year's class who just completed her freshman season.

"Bayliss adds to a group that is phenomenally talented and needs to be because they push each other to be better. Shot-stopping, the ability to distribute with her feet and the classic goalkeeper bravery, she has that personality. Whatever it takes, I'm not letting the ball go in the goal."

Rokos plays for one of the top high school programs in the country and club for the Portland Thorns. She is a 5-foot-4 outside back, the same size as another recent Grizzly who took her skillset to the NWSL.

"She can cross a ball, she's athletic. She's a miniature Taylor Hansen in a way. I'm really excited about everything she can offer us," said Citowicki.

"Watching her play, with her ability to get up and down the line, she plays with a recklessness but somehow she always comes away with the ball. She just doesn't know how to hold back. Having that kind of attitude in a defender is pretty good."

Carolan is a 6-foot center back who joins a program that has a successful history of fielding dominating, imposing defenders at that position.

"Riley is big and strong but also freakishly athletic, too," said Citowicki. "She is good in the air, physical. Everybody is hugging her and she up heading the ball anyway."

She gives a sizeable bookend to 5-foot-10 forward Delaney Lou Schorr, who led the Big Sky in goals during the regular season. All seven of her goals came off her head.

"Watching (Carolan) play over the summer and her dominance in the air, now you've got two people who can get up and get a head on the ball," said Citowicki. "And not just head it but hit it into the goal."

Pennington will give Montana its first player from Georgia, but it was her family's brief stay in Seattle that led to her becoming a Grizzly.

"That's how she ended up hearing about us and developing a fondness for the area," Citowicki said. "This part of the country has stayed in her heart."

She played for OL Reign Academy when she lived in Seattle. In Georgia, she plays for Tophat Soccer Club.

"She can play as a winger, she can play as a midfielder," said Citowicki. "She came to our camp and was just brilliant. She's another Sydney (Haustein). She is solid.

"Knowing players like Sydney will be graduating, you feel okay because you have a Perrin in the program. You know that next generation is there to continue the success in the middle of the field."

Despite Montana's relative proximity to Utah, the Grizzlies have had just two players from the state in the history of the program: Raquel Watts and McKenzie Warren, who was a senior on Citowicki's first team, in 2018.

Anderson, who plays for Real Salt Lake Academy, makes it a third.

"I've wanted to find a player out of Utah and she plays on the best club there, on a high-level ECNL team, and she happened to be available," said Citowicki.

"It turns out we're a perfect fit for each other. She has a ton of speed and is a good 1-v-1 finisher. She is a very athletic winger who can cause a lot of damage."

Smith is a high-scoring forward out of Crescent Valley High. She scored a hat trick on senior night last month and her team's lone goal on Tuesday as the Raiders advanced to the Class 5A title game with a 1-0 victory over North Eugene.

"Abby is a goal-scorer. That's all she's ever done and usually outside the 18. She has a heck of a shot," said Citowicki.

"That's all she wants to do, that's all she loves to do. She could be a heck of a difference-maker for us, with her work ethic and commitment."

University of Montana Athletics

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Ashlyn Dvorak

Delaney Lou Schorr

Camellia Xu

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