Montana hits the road for key league matches

The Montana soccer team, unbeaten since Sept. 10 and pursuing its ninth Big Sky Conference regular-season championship, will play a pair of important road matches this week.

The Grizzlies (9-2-3, 3-0-1 BSC), sitting in a tie for second in the Big Sky with Northern Arizona, both teams trailing Portland State, will play the Lumberjacks (8-3-3, 3-1-1 BSC) on Thursday night at 8 p.m. (MT) in Flagstaff.

Montana will then continue on to Greeley for a matchup at noon on Sunday with Northern Colorado (0-11-4, 0-2-3 BSC).

It's the final road trip of the regular season for the Grizzlies, who host Sacramento State and Portland State next week at South Campus Stadium.

The six-team Big Sky tournament will open in Flagstaff on Wednesday, Nov. 1.

Coverage: Both matches this week will stream on ESPN+.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies remained unbeaten in league with a home sweep last week of Weber State and Idaho State.

Abby Gearhart and Sydney Haustein scored for the Grizzlies against the Wildcats, who made things tense over the final 20 minutes with a goal in the 68th minute that cut Montana's lead to 2-1.

It was just the seventh goal scored on Montana this season, the first in more than 231 minutes, since a first-half goal allowed at Eastern Washington.

Gearhart's unassisted goal in the 27th minute was her third of the season, her second in three matches and the 17th of her collegiate career.

Haustein's goal, her team-leading fourth of the season, came in the 51st minute from 20 yards out. She is the 22nd player in program history to reach 10 goals for her career.

Haustein's goal came on an assist from Skyleigh Thompson, her second of the season, the fourth of her career.

Montana goalkeeper Ashlyn Dvorak stopped a Weber State penalty kick in the 68th minute. It was the first time a Griz goalkeeper stopped a penalty kick since Claire Howard against Eastern Washington in the 2021 spring season.

Montana improved to 4-0-2 in its last six matches with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Idaho State on Sunday at South Campus Stadium.

Maddie Ditta scored the match's lone goal in the 78th minute off an assist from Haustein. It was Ditta's second goal of the season, the third of her career. It was Haustein's fourth career assist.

Dvorak made three saves while facing seven shots to record her eighth shutout of the season.

Dvorak is tied for fifth nationally in shutouts, tied for sixth in save percentage (.889) and tied for 14th in goals-against average (0.50). Montana ranks first nationally in save percentage (.894).

Sixth-year coach Chris Citowicki won his 50th match at Montana when the Grizzlies won at Idaho on Oct. 1. His next win will be his 100th as a collegiate head coach.

At a glance (Northern Arizona): Last year's regular-season and tournament champions and this year's preseason favorites got off to a slow start in league, losing 1-0 at Sacramento State and tying 1-1 at Portland State.

The Lumberjacks have fought their way back into the league race in a big way, winning their last three matches, over Weber State, Idaho State and Northern Colorado by a combined score of 11-2.

All three wins came in Flagstaff, where NAU has won six straight.

Northern Arizona has lost just once, at Sacramento State, since Aug. 27 and has lost just three times all season, the other two setbacks against CSU Bakersfield and Arizona.

The Lumberjacks have outscored their opponents 25-12 this season.

Senior Allison Veloz is tied for second in the Big Sky in goals with six. Senior Maddie Shafer, first-team All-Big Sky last season, has five goals and two assists. She has 14 career goals.

A pair of former Grizzlies also have scored this fall for NAU in their first seasons as Lumberjacks. Allie Larsen has two goals and a team-high three assists. Molly Massman has scored one goal.

Junior goalkeeper Trinity Corcoran ranks second in the Big Sky behind Dvorak in goals-against average (0.74) and save percentage (.811).

Series history: Montana leads the all-time series with Northern Arizona 17-7-5 and has a winning record in Flagstaff of 6-5-2.

The Lumberjacks won last year's matchup in Missoula 2-1, NAU's first win in the series since 2013, snapping the Grizzlies' eight-match unbeaten streak in the series.

Montana has walked away with 1-0 wins in Flagstaff on its last two trips to NAU and is 3-0-2 in its last five. Northern Arizona's last home win over Montana was 5-0 in 2010.

At a glance (Northern Colorado): The Bears won the Big Sky regular-season title in 2021, their fifth time finishing in the top three since 2015, but they have struggled since early in the 2022 season.

On Sept. 4, 2022, Northern Colorado defeated North Dakota State 5-0. The Bears haven't won since, going 0-22-5 over their last 27 matches.

UNC has been outscored this season 34-7 and has scored multiple goals just once in its last 25 matches, a 2-2 home draw with Sacramento State last month.

The Bears rank 324th nationally out of 336 teams in scoring (0.47/g).

Northern Colorado's three points in league have come in home draws against Sacramento State, 2-2, Idaho State, 1-1, and Weber State, 0-0.

Northern Colorado lost its most recent match, at Northern Arizona on Sunday, 3-0, giving up three goals in the match's opening 24 minutes and getting outshot 26-8.

Freshman forward Lexi Tuite has two goals this season. She is the only Bear with multiple goals this season.

Series history: Northern Colorado leads the series with Montana 9-7-5. The Bears are the only team in the Big Sky that has a winning record against the Grizzlies.

Montana won 2-1 over Northern Colorado last season in Missoula, the Grizzlies' first home win over the Bears since 2014.

Montana has gone 1-6-3 all-time against Northern Colorado in Greeley. Since winning 1-0 on UNC's home field in 2009, the Grizzlies have gone 0-5-3.

Not all experiences in Greeley over the past decade-plus have been sour. Montana won Big Sky tournament titles on the Bears' home field in 2011 and 2021.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Portland State, at 4-0-1 and with 13 points, sits atop the Big Sky standings. The Vikings will have to earn it going forward on the road, closing out the season with matches at Idaho State, Weber State and Montana. PSU is 3-1-0 on the road this season.

* Montana and Northern Arizona are tied for second with 10 points, though every league team has played five of their eight Big Sky matches while the Grizzlies have only played four.

* Sacramento State and Idaho are both tied for fourth with league records of 2-2-1.

* Eastern Washington and Weber State only have home matches remaining.

* Northern Arizona's most recent regular-season title came last season, Montana's in the 2021 spring season. Portland State last won the league in 2013 when the Vikings went 8-0-1.

* The six-team Big Sky tournament will be held in Flagstaff, Ariz., with quarterfinals on Wednesday, Nov. 1, semifinals on Friday, Nov. 3, the championship match on Sunday, Nov. 5.

* Remaining schedules:

1. Portland State (7-5-1, 4-0-1 BSC, 13 points): at ISU (10.13), at WSU (10.15), at UM (10.22)
t2. Montana (9-2-3, 3-0-1 BSC, 10 points): at NAU (10.12), at UNC (10.15), SAC (10.19), PSU (10.22)
t2. Northern Arizona (8-3-3, 3-1-1 BSC, 10 points): UM (10.12), at EWU (10.20), at UI (10.22)
t4. Idaho (7-4-2, 2-2-1 BSC, 7 points): at EWU (10.15), UNC (10.20), NAU (10.22)
t4. Sacramento State (4-7-3, 2-2-1 BSC, 7 points): at WSU (10.13), at ISU (10.15), at UM (10.19)
t6. Idaho State (3-11-1, 1-3-1, 4 points): PSU(10.13), SAC (10.15), at WSU (10.22)
t6. Eastern Washington (2-11-1, 1-3-1 BSC, 4 points): UI (10.15), NAU (10.20), UNC (10.22)
8. Northern Colorado (0-11-4, 0-2-3 BSC, 3 points): UM (10.15), at UI (10.20), at EWU (10.22)
9. Weber State (0-9-3, 0-3-2 BSC, 2 points): SAC (10.13), PSU (10.15), ISU (10.22)

Upcoming: Montana will close out the regular season next week with home matches against Sacramento State and Portland State. Seven players will be honored on Senior Day before the Grizzlies face the Vikings.

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Players Mentioned

Maddie Ditta

Ashlyn Dvorak

Abby Gearhart

Sydney Haustein

Allie Larsen

Molly Massman

Skyleigh Thompson

University of Montana Athletics