Griz back at it, to face Cowgirls, Pilots

The Montana soccer team, which is coming off hosting the Rumble in the Rockies at South Campus Stadium, will play a pair of matches this week against Wyoming and Portland.

The Grizzlies (0-1-1) will host the Cowgirls (0-2-0) on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at South Campus Stadium, then make their first road trip of the fall to face the Pilots (1-0-1) on Sunday at 2 p.m. (MT) at UP's Merlo Field.

Montana opened its season at the Rumble in the Rockies with a 0-0 draw against Creighton on Thursday and a 2-0 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday in a game that was scoreless entering the 56th minute.

Coverage: Thursday's game will be available on ESPN+ with Jackson Wagner calling the action. Sunday's match will be available on WCCSports.com.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies opened their season against some high-level competition at the Rumble in the Rockies in Missoula.

After winning the time-of-possession battle and having an advantage in shots, the Grizzlies settled for a 0-0 draw with the Bluejays on Thursday. It was an opponent Montana lost to on the road the previous season.

Camellia Xu made five saves to collect her 12th career shutout.

On Sunday against Pittsburgh, which defeated Gonzaga 1-0 on Thursday, Montana played the Panthers to a 0-0 draw through 45 minutes.

Pittsburgh, which finished with a 16-9 advantage in shots and a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks, scored in the 56th and 80th minutes of the second half to pull away.

Gonzaga and Creighton played to a 1-1 tie in Sunday's early match.

At a glance (Wyoming): The Cowgirls went 8-10-1 last season under then first-year head coach Colleen Corbin, 4-7-0 in league to finish 11th out of 12 teams in the Mountain West Conference.

Wyoming, with 10 starters back, tied for ninth with Nevada, ahead of Colorado College and Air Force, in the Mountain West preseason poll. New Mexico, San Diego State and Boise State topped the poll.

After closing its exhibition schedule with a 2-1 home win over Kansas State, Wyoming opened its season with a pair of road losses, 2-0 at Big Sky Conference-favorite Northern Colorado on Thursday, 4-1 at Oregon State on Sunday.

Wyoming fell behind Northern Colorado 1-0 in the opening minute on Thursday and gave up another goal in the 67th minute. The Cowgirls outshot the Bears 19-13.

Wyoming gave up another early goal to Oregon State on Sunday, this one in the fourth minute.

The Cowgirls pulled within 2-1 by the half on a penalty kick in the 40th minute but got outshot 11-1 over the final 45 minutes and gave up goals in the 46th and 77th minutes.

Fifth-year midfielder Jamie Tatum, who led Wyoming in scoring last season with six goals and seven assists, has the Cowgirls' lone goal in 2022.

Miyuki Schoyen, who played her first three seasons of collegiate soccer at Drexel, has played every minute in goal through two matches. She's allowed six goals while making nine saves.

At a glance (Portland): The Pilots went 9-8-0 last season, including a 1-0 win at Montana, and finished strong with four wins in their last five matches, including a 2-0 shutout of Santa Clara, which was the defending national champion and advanced to last year's national semifinals.

Portland went 5-4-0 in the West Coast Conference to tie for fourth with Gonzaga. The Pilots were picked fifth in this year's preseason poll, behind BYU, Santa Clara, Pepperdine and Gonzaga.

Portland opened its season on Thursday with a 2-2 draw at home against Utah, the team picked ninth out of 12 teams in the Pac-12 preseason poll. The Pilots built a 2-0 lead early in the second half but gave up goals in the 63rd and 67th minutes as the Utes fought back to tie it.

Portland came back on Sunday and crushed Eastern Washington 6-0, with goals from six different players. The Pilots put 13 of their 25 shots on goal and limited the Eagles to four shots, one on goal.

Portland has a huge opportunity on Thursday when it plays at NCAA tournament regular Washington State. The Cougars, who lost 2-1 at ranked Michigan on Thursday to open the season, were picked third in the preseason Pac-12 poll and collected two first-place votes.

Through two matches, Portland has had seven players score its eight goals. Sophomore goalkeeper Bre Norris, from Boise, has had to make just four saves through 180 minutes.

History (Montana vs. Wyoming): The Grizzlies hold a 5-3-5 advantage over the Cowgirls in a series that dates back to 1995 and has been marked recently by tight, low-scoring outcomes.

After Montana won 3-0 in 1995 and 4-1 in 1996, 10 of the last 11 matchups have been draws or decided by a single goal. In the teams' last six matchups, a total of five goals have been scored, with three of those matches ending in 0-0 draws.

The Grizzlies are 1-1-3 against the Cowgirls in Missoula, without a win since that 3-0 victory in 1995. Wyoming won 1-0 at South Campus Stadium in 2010, and the teams played to draws in Missoula in 2013 (0-0), '15 (0-0) and '19 (1-1).

The teams' most recent matchup was a 1-1 draw in 2019 in what was a disappointing result for Montana at South Campus Stadium.

Montana held a 1-0 lead, off a Kendall Furrow goal in the 49th minute, entering the final minute of regulation, but the Cowgirls created and converted a penalty kick at 89:58, and the teams played two scoreless overtime periods.

History (Montana vs. Portland): The Pilots lead the series with the Grizzlies 3-0-0 and have outscored Montana 10-0 in those three matchups.

Portland won 2-0 in 1997 in Seattle, 7-0 in 2009 in Portland and 1-0 last year in Missoula.

The 7-0 loss in 2009 came in a season when the Pilots advanced to the national quarterfinals. It is tied for the most lopsided shutout loss in Montana program history. (The Grizzlies would also lose 7-0 at New Mexico to open the 2010 season.)

Summary:

Montana has hosted big-name and high-level opponents at South Campus Stadium before, but it wasn't lost on Griz coach Chris Citowicki that he got to sit and watch Gonzaga face Pittsburgh on his team's home field on Thursday before his squad got the opportunity to host Creighton.

The Rumble in the Rockies delivered. "It was one of my favorite week settings I've been in in a very long time," he said.

"To be able to sit back and watch those teams playing in Missoula, to see all the activities they got to do in the area, to see the level of soccer, it was everything I wanted it to be and more."

Montana played to a scoreless draw against Creighton on Thursday and then played even with Pittsburgh for long stretches on Sunday before giving up two second-half goals.

"We were able to take the psychological steps forward we needed to as a program, so it could not have been any better," Citowicki said.

Montana remains at home for a match against Wyoming on Thursday afternoon at South Campus Stadium.

"They have a new coaching staff that is super high energy and culture driven. They've created a cool buzz about their program," said Citowicki.

"Similar to us, there is a lot of buy-in to the way they do things. You're not just playing the individual players but you're playing against their willingness to play for each other and go that little bit extra and compete until the final whistle.

"Colleen (Corbin) was a wonderful hire for them and is doing a really good job. I'm excited to see the energy they come in with and see what they've got for us."

Montana will then hit the road for the first time in 2022, where Montana is more than comfortable. The Grizzlies are 12-6-0 away from Missoula the last two seasons, 21-18-5 in four seasons under Citowicki.

"The team is looking forward to it. Road trips are different. When you're in a hotel, it's easy. It's a fun little setting that way," he said.

"Our culture is still missing that first road trip where everything starts to bond. I'm looking forward to this trip for that reason, to get that glue in where it needs to be to further solidify this thing and see where it goes from here."

On Sunday, Montana will play a good team on a big field. Menlo Field's dimensions (75 yards by 120 yards) are the largest allowed by the NCAA.

"Portland is a very good program and they do really well playing at home," said Citowicki. "It's a big field, so that's something you have to be aware of immediately. That already starts stretching the game a little bit.

"If we're not comfortable keeping the ball, it's a long day. You'll just sit back that whole time on a field that massive. We're going to have to be good on the ball, brave with possession and be able to create our own chances if we want to stand a chance."

When the teams met in Missoula last fall on opening weekend, Portland had a 12-11 advantage in shots. Montana had a slight edge in shots on goal (5-4) and corner kicks (3-2).

The difference was a Portland goal in the 56th minute. "We did well when we played them here," said Citowicki. "Now, can we do it over there in a different setting?"

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Preseason favorite Northern Colorado had the best opening weekend in the league, winning 2-0 at home over Wyoming and playing to a 1-1 draw at Kansas State on Sunday.

* Idaho and Portland State picked up the league's only other wins.

* Idaho won 2-0 at UC San Diego, a team transitioning from Division II to Division I, then got roughed up by San Diego State 7-2.

* After opening with a 4-0 home loss to San Francisco, the Vikings won 4-1 over NCAA Division II Western Oregon.

* Northern Arizona is unbeaten after playing to a 2-2 draw at home against Utah State in the Lumberjacks' only match. That result looks better after the Aggies shut out Idaho State 5-0 three days later.

* Sacramento State went 0-2-0 on the road, falling at Stanford (5-0) and Pacific (4-2), as did Weber State, which lost 5-0 at Colorado and 2-0 at Denver.

* Eastern Washington had the biggest swing of opening week. The Eagles played to a 1-1 draw at Oregon State, a match they led going into the 88th minute, then three days later lost 6-0 at Portland.

Upcoming: Montana will host MSU Billings and CSU Bakersfield at South Campus Stadium on Friday, Sept. 2, at 4 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 4, at 1 p.m., respectively.

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Players Mentioned

Kendall Furrow

Camellia Xu

University of Montana Athletics