Montana opens Big Sky schedule on the road

The Montana soccer team will open its Big Sky Conference schedule this week when it plays Sacramento State and Portland State on the road.

The Grizzlies (3-2-5) will face the Hornets (0-6-3) on Friday at 4:30 p.m. (MT) at Hornet Field, the Vikings at 2 p.m. (MT) on Sunday at Hillsboro Stadium.

Montana will then play four consecutive league matches at home over three weekends, hosting Idaho (Sept. 30) and Eastern Washington (Oct. 2), then Northern Colorado (Oct. 9) and Northern Arizona (Oct. 16) on single-match weeks.

The Grizzlies will conclude their Big Sky schedule with a road trip to Idaho State (Oct. 21) and Weber State (Oct. 23).

The top six teams in the final regular-season standings will advance to Greeley, Colo., for the Big Sky tournament the first week of November.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies, at 3-2-5, come out of nonconference with a winning record for the first time since 2017 and enter league with the Big Sky's best RPI of 120.

Montana goes into its Big Sky schedule on a six-match unbeaten streak, a run of results keyed by its defensive play. After giving up six goals through the season's first four matches, the Grizzlies have allowed just one in their last six matches.

Montana finished its four-match lineup of games against Mountain West Conference opponents unbeaten, at 0-0-4. The Grizzlies played to draws against Wyoming, Colorado State, Fresno State and Boise State.

Thursday's 0-0 draw at Boise State was Montana's fifth consecutive shutout of the Broncos and extended the Grizzlies' unbeaten streak against Boise to nine matches, dating back to 2009.

It was only the second time this season Boise State had been shut out. The only other was against Oregon State.

Montana scored multiple goals for the fourth time this season on Sunday in its 3-0 home victory over North Dakota State, the Grizzlies' first win over the Bison since 2006.

Sophomore Delaney Lou Schorr put away her team-leading fifth goal of the season to open the scoring in the eighth minute. She is tied for the Big Sky lead in goals with Northern Colorado's Lauren Woodhull.

Schorr's header came off an assist by Skyleigh Thompson, the second assist of her career.

Riley O'Brien made it 2-0 in the 38th minute when she netted a long shot by Maysa Walters that went off the left post and back into the field of play.

It was O'Brien's second goal of the season on just five shots, Walters' team- and Big Sky-leading fifth assist.

Molly Massman scored her second career goal in the 84th minute to complete the scoring. Her header came off an assist by Ava Samuelson off a short corner.

It was Samuelson's third assist of the season, the sixth of her career. She is tied for second in the Big Sky this season.

Montana's shutouts of Boise State and North Dakota State gave sophomore goalkeeper Camellia Xu six on the season, 17 for her career.

Her goals-against average of 0.70 leads the Big Sky. She is tied for third nationally in shutouts, one off the NCAA lead of Mississippi State's Maddy Anderson and North Alabama's Payton Yates.

Montana has posted six shutouts in its first 10 matches for the second consecutive season and has outshot eight of its 10 opponents this fall.

Montana's two losses this season have come against teams with a single loss between them. Pittsburgh is 8-1-0, Portland is 5-0-4 and now ranked in the top 25 for the first time since 2014.

The Grizzlies, picked second in the preseason coaches' poll behind Northern Colorado, are trying to win their third regular-season title in the last four years under coach Chris Citowicki, whose teams have gone 29-5-8 against league opponents the last four years.

At a glance (Sacramento State): The Hornets enter their Big Sky schedule as the lone league team that did not pick up a win during their nonconference matches, which was a challenging lineup of opponents.

Sacramento State is 0-6-3 and got outscored in its first nine matches 22-6, outshot 169-56. The Hornets have allowed at least one goal to all of their opponents this season while getting shut out five times themselves.

In one common opponent with Montana, Sacramento State played to a 2-2 draw at CSU Bakersfield on Sunday. The Grizzlies shut out the Roadrunners 3-0 back on Sept. 4 in Missoula.

Three of the Hornets' six goals this season have come on penalty kicks. Senior Aubrey Goodwill and sophomore Abigail Lopez, both with three goals, have combined to score all six. Goodwill has the team's lone assist in 2022.

Sacramento State made last year's Big Sky tournament as the No. 6 seed and knocked off No. 3 Northern Arizona before falling 1-0 to No. 2 Montana in the semifinals on a late goal by the Grizzlies.

The Hornets were picked sixth in the preseason coaches' poll.

Series history (Montana-Sacramento State): The Grizzlies lead the series against the Hornets 18-7-6 and have gone 8-5-2 in Sacramento.

Montana hasn't lost to Sacramento State since a 3-0 setback in Missoula in 2013. Since then, the Grizzlies have gone 8-0-2 against the Hornets.

Montana's last loss at Hornet field came in 2012, a 2-0 defeat. The Grizzlies have gone 4-0-1 on Sacramento State's home field since then.

Montana defeated Sacramento State twice last season, 1-0 in Missoula and 1-0 in Greeley in the Big Sky semifinals.

The Grizzlies won the teams' regular-season matchup on a Caitlin Rogers' goal in the 38th minute. In the Big Sky tournament, Charley Boone's goal in the 87th minute sent Montana to the title match.

At a glance (Portland State): The Vikings, who play at Northern Colorado on Friday before returning home to host Montana on Sunday afternoon, are 1-5-3.

Portland State's lone win was a non-Division I victory over Western Oregon in the second match of the season.

The Vikings' best result during nonconference was a 1-1 draw at Mountain West favorite New Mexico. Their lone defensive shutout was a 0-0 draw at home against North Dakota.

Portland State has allowed multiple goals in six of its eight matches against Division I opponents, including two in its 2-0 loss at Cal State Northridge on Sunday.

Sophomore Abi Hoffman leads Portland State with four goals.

Portland State was picked eighth out of nine teams in the preseason poll, ahead of Idaho State.

Series history (Montana-Portland State): The Grizzlies own a 15-12-4 advantage over the Vikings. They've gone 4-0-2 against PSU in the teams' last six matchups, 6-1-2 in the last nine.

Montana has gone 6-5-1 against Portland State on the Vikings' home field and hasn't played PSU on the road since 2018, a 1-0 win that clinched a Big Sky tournament spot for the Grizzlies, who would then go to Ogden and win the championship in Citowicki's first year.

The teams played to a 0-0 draw in Missoula last fall, Montana's only tie of the season.

Around the Big Sky:

* Montana has the Big Sky's best RPI of 120 in the NCAA's first report that was issued this week. Northern Colorado (158) and Idaho (171) are the only other teams in the top 220.

Eastern Washington is 221, Weber State 267, Idaho State 278, Sacramento State 299, Northern Arizona 317, Portland State 330 (out of 348 teams).

* Idaho, at 5-1-2, has the Big Sky's best record and has shut out seven of its eight opponents this fall. The other result was a 7-2 loss at San Diego State. The Vandals haven't lost since Aug. 21.

* Northern Colorado opened the season 4-0-2 but will enter league on a four-match losing streak. The Bears lost road matches at James Madison, Virginia Tech and Washington State by a combined score of 13-3, then dropped a 1-0 home game to Utah State on Sunday.

* Eastern Washington, which has some good results (1-1 draw at Oregon State, 1-0 home win over Denver) lost 4-0 at Boise State on Sunday, three days after Montana played the Broncos to a 0-0 draw.

* Northern Arizona and Portland State did not defeat a Division I opponent during nonconference. Idaho State's lone Division I win was a good one, 1-0 against Lipscomb, which has a current RPI of 143. Weber State's came against UC Riverside, RPI of 214.

Thursday's Big Sky schedule: ISU at EWU, UI at WSU … Eastern Washington is 3-0-1 at home this season … Idaho takes its strong record to Ogden to face the team picked third in the preseason poll and played in last year's Big Sky title match.

Friday's Big Sky schedule: UM at SAC, PSU at UNC … Northern Colorado tries to snap a four-match losing streak, its longest since 2019.

Sunday's Big Sky schedule: UM at PSU, UNC at SAC, ISU at UI, WSU at EWU … The second match of opening week for all eight teams. … Northern Arizona, this season's scheduling lone wolf, plays at Loyola Marymount and San Diego this week.

Upcoming: Montana, on the program's Alumni Weekend, will host Idaho and Eastern Washington at South Campus Stadium, the start of a four-match home stand.

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Players Mentioned

Charley Boone

Molly Massman

Riley O'Brien

Caitlin Rogers

Ava Samuelson

Delaney Lou Schorr

Skyleigh Thompson

Maysa Walters

Camellia Xu

University of Montana Athletics