Pitt uses second-half goals to down Montana

Sunday, August 21

Missoula, Mont.

4 PM

Montana

0-1-1

Pittsburgh

2-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Pittsburgh	0	2	2
Montana	0	0	0

8/21/2022 8:36:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

The key difference between Pittsburgh and the other three teams at the Rumble in the Rockies, which concluded on Sunday afternoon with two more matches at South Campus Stadium in Missoula?

The Panthers had Amanda West and Montana, Gonzaga and Creighton didn't.

West scored career goal No. 34 on Thursday in Pittsburgh's 1-0 victory over Gonzaga, then notched the game-winner again on Sunday as the Panthers put up two second-half goals to get by the host Grizzlies 2-0.

"She's an immensely high-level player. We dealt with her well most of the game, then one time all of a sudden she's free and all of a sudden you're down," said coach Chris Citowicki.

West's goal came in the 56th minute and opened the scoring in a tense game. The Panthers added an insurance goal in the 80th to go 2-0-0 in Missoula and win the de facto Rumble in the Rockies title.

Gonzaga (0-1-1) and Creighton (0-0-2) played to a 1-1 draw in Sunday's early match.

Hosting its first Power 5 opponent since 2017, Montana looked like it in the early going as Pittsburgh controlled not only possession but opportunities and momentum.

The Panthers created four corner kicks in the opening 20 minutes and took five shots.

Then the first-half water break arrived and everything changed.

The Grizzlies had talked before the match about not playing on their heels, not simply being content with defending. And 22 minutes into the match, that's exactly what they were doing.

"You guys said we want to play and go at this team and try to create chances, keep possession, build out of the back and right now you're not doing that," Citowicki told his team.

"You're playing scared. We're not doing what we said we were going to do. You've got to be more brave and try to create things."

Did they ever. While it didn't lead to a goal, it was the type of fight and belief in itself and composure on the ball that Citowicki has been waiting to see from his team against a high-level opponent, the type Montana has faced in the opening round of the NCAA tournament three of the last four seasons.

"I think he gave us that boost of confidence," said redshirt junior Maysa Walters. "We didn't come here to sit in a 5-4-1 and defend for the full 90. We came here to compete and win.

"I think once we heard that and that he believed that we could beat them 1-v-1 and get to the attack, we were able to do that as a team, and they were chasing us in that moment."

There was a sense of anticipation as the second half opened, that the teams would continue to play evenly on the field. And they did until West struck.

In the 56th minute, Pitt's Landy Mertz took a counterattack up the field and found West alone in space on the left side, which is never a good situation for the opponent.

Showing a goal-scorer's calmness, she waited, waited, then flicked the ball past Camellia Xu and inside the far post.

It wasn't brilliant, just a goal-scorer scoring another goal, No. 35 for her career for the Canadian.

"We gave up a goal that was a really nice counter," Citowicki said. "We got a little sloppy in our defending. They are a professional team that will finish you off if you make a mistake.

"We were undisciplined a couple of times and paid for it."

Pittsburgh's second goal came from 20 yards out in the 80th minute, as Bri Hilsenteger, the sophomore from Texas, put one in the upper left-hand corner.

After taking six of the match's first seven shots, Pittsburgh finished with a 16-9 advantage for the match. The Panthers put five on goal, the Grizzlies three.

"Overall, what we wanted to do when we started the game, how slowly we started, how we fixed it, how it ended, we'll take it," said Citowicki.

"It's a huge step forward compared to other times when we've played the Washington States of the world.

"The most important thing right now is proving to ourselves that we can keep the ball and get into the final third against teams like this. That's the next layer. We've haven't done that before."

Jaden Griggs and Skyleigh Thompson both took two shots, Allie Larsen and Ally Henrikson both played 90 minutes, Xu made three saves.

"I think what we got out of this match is exactly what we wanted," said Walters. "We competed for the full 90 minutes.

"They caught us in two moments of error that we can go back and fix. That's exciting and something we can look forward to."

Montana (0-1-1) will host Wyoming (0-2-0) on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at South Campus Stadium. The Cowgirls lost 2-0 at Northern Colorado on Thursday, 4-1 at Oregon State on Sunday.