Griz home for two matches seeking Big Sky title

Thursday, October 19

Missoula, Mont.

3 PM

Montana

Sacramento State

Photo by: John Sieber via UM Athletics

10/18/2023 5:41:00 PM | Soccer

PDF Game Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana soccer team, one win away from a ninth Big Sky Conference championship, will close out its regular-season schedule this week with home matches against Sacramento State and Portland State.

The Grizzlies (11-2-3, 5-0-1 BSC) will face the Hornets (4-7-5, 2-2-3 BSC) at 3 p.m. on Thursday at South Campus Stadium, the Vikings (7-6-2, 4-1-2 BSC) at noon on Sunday on Senior Day.

Montana last week clinched a spot in the six-team Big Sky tournament, which will be held the first week of November in Flagstaff, Ariz. The Grizzlies will be either the No. 1 or 2 seed and will play a semifinal match on Friday, Nov. 3.

Coverage: Both matches this week will stream on ESPN+ with Ace Sauerwein calling the action on Thursday, Jackson Wagner on Sunday.

What's at stake: The Grizzlies, who have not lost since Sept. 10, would wrap up the regular-season title, the ninth in program history, with a win on Thursday over Sacramento State. A tie with the Hornets would clinch at least a share of the title.

Should Montana draw or lose on Thursday, the door would be open for second-place Portland State to either play its way into a share of the title or win it outright on Sunday.

Sacramento State is in fifth place in the Big Sky standings and could make the league tournament without collecting any points on its trip to Missoula, but that would also leave the Hornets watching out-of-town scoreboards and hoping things go their way.

Montana, Portland State and Idaho have secured three of the six spots in the Big Sky tournament.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies had one of their best road trips in a long, long time last week, winning at defending Big Sky champion Northern Arizona on Thursday night 2-1, then winning 3-0 at Northern Colorado on Sunday.

The victory on Thursday came after Montana fell behind 1-0. Sunday's victory was the Grizzlies' first over the Bears in Greeley since 2009.

The wins give Montana 11 for the season. It's just the fourth 11-win season for the Grizzlies since 2000. Montana's 2021 team won 13 games, the 2012 and '14 teams both won 12 matches.

After falling behind 1-0 at Northern Arizona on Thursday, Skyleigh Thompson evened the score in the 19th minute with a solo effort after collecting the ball near midfield.

Delaney Lou Schorr then won it for the Grizzlies, heading in an Ava Samuelson pass in the 84th minute. Schorr's four goals this year have all been headers on balls played in by Samuelson.

The Grizzlies have left Flagstaff with a positive result (4-0-2) on their last six trips to Northern Arizona.

Montana was 1-6-3 all-time against Northern Colorado on the Bears' home field before Sunday. That history hardly bothered the 2023 Grizzlies.

Maddie Ditta converted a penalty kick in the 41st minute, Abby Gearhart scored her fourth goal of the season, her third in league, in the 56th and Thompson made it 3-0 with her own penalty kick in the 59th minute.

It was the first time in program history Montana has scored twice in a match on penalty kicks and just the second time the Grizzlies have taken multiple PK's, the other against Northwestern in 1999, when Montana went 0 for 3.

The shutout was the ninth of the year for Ashlyn Dvorak, who is tied for fifth nationally in that category and is now two shy of the program record of 11, set by Camellia Xu in 2021.

Dvorak ranks sixth nationally in save percentage (.892), 15th in goals-against average (0.50). Montana ranks second nationally in save percentage (.896) and is tied for 11th in goals-against average (0.50).

Sunday's win capped off a 7-0-2 performance for Montana in road and neutral-site matches this year, the first time the Grizzlies have ever gone unbeaten away from home in a fall regular season.

Thompson's two goals last week give her 10 for her career, making her the 23rd player in program history to reach 10 goals.

Earlier this season, Delaney Lou Schorr and Sydney Haustein also reached 10. It's the first time since 2001 (Heather Olson, Liz Roberts, Amy Wronski) that Montana has three players competing together after reaching 10 career goals.

Schorr's game-winner at NAU was the 12th of her career. She is tied for 17th in program history. Samuelson's assist on the goal was the 12th of her career. She is one shy of breaking into the top 10 in program history.

Griz win twice, drop in rankings: Despite winning twice on the road last week, Montana dropped from fifth to seventh in the West Region in the United Soccer Coaches rankings. Cal Poly and Long Beach State both moved up and bumped the Grizzlies down two spots.

Montana is still hanging out in the top 100 in the NCAA RPI, checking in at No. 92. The rest of the Big Sky: Idaho (195), Northern Arizona (233), Idaho State (259), Portland State (290), Weber State (304), Sacramento State (305), Eastern Washington (312) and Northern Colorado (323).

Thompson named Big Sky Player of the Week: Skyleigh Thompson scored Montana's first goal on Thursday at Northern Arizona, then assisted on the Grizzlies' second goal at Northern Colorado before scoring the final goal to make it 3-0.

Her five-point road trip earned Thompson Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career. She also was one of 12 players to be named to the Women's Team of the Week by College Soccer News.

Team notes:

* Montana has allowed just eight goals through 16 matches. The program record for fewest goals allowed in a season is 15, set in both 1996 and 2021, both 20-game seasons.

Only nine times in program history has Montana allowed fewer than 20 goals in a season. Three of those have come under present coach Chris Citowicki.

* Montana has four players who have scored four or more goals this season, Skyleigh Thompson (5), Abby Gearhart (4), Sydney Haustein (4) and Delaney Lou Schorr (4). It's the first time since 2000 that Montana has four players who have scored four or more goals.

* Sunday will be Senior Day for seven Grizzlies: Kathleen Aitchison, Charley Boone, Abby Gearhart, Sydney Haustein, Molly Quarry, Audrey Teague and Maysa Walters. Haustein is the only player in the group who began her career at Montana. The rest transferred into the program at various times.

* Earlier this season, sixth-year coach Chris Citowicki won his 50th game at Montana. Thursday's win at Northern Arizona was his 100th as a head coach.

Series history (Montana vs. Sacramento State):

* Montana leads the all-time series with Sacramento State 19-7-6 and has gone 8-2-3 at home against the Hornets.

* The Grizzlies are unbeaten against the Hornets (9-0-2) in their last 11 matchups, outscoring them 16-4.

* Montana has won four straight at home against the Hornets. Sacramento State's last win in Missoula came in 2013.

* The Grizzlies won last year's matchup in Sacramento 2-1, with goals from Bella O'Brien and Skyleigh Thompson to rally from a first-half deficit.

Series history (Montana vs. Portland State):

* Montana leads the all-time series against Portland State 16-13-4 and has gone 8-6-3 against the Vikings in Missoula.

* The Grizzlies are 5-1-2 against Portland State in their last eight meetings, including a 3-0 victory last November in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament, which avenged a 1-0 loss in the regular season.

* The Vikings have not won in Missoula since 2013. Montana has gone 4-0-2 against Portland State at home since then.

Summary:

Montana set itself up to play for a Big Sky championship at home this week with a road sweep of Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado.

The Grizzlies could do so as early as Thursday with a win over Sacramento State, but the Hornets have been a tough matchup for Montana over the years. In the teams' last 11 meetings, nine have been decided by a single goal or were played to a draw.

Sacramento State enters Thursday's match with just 12 goals scored through 16 matches. Its four wins all have come by 1-0 scores. The Hornets are winless (0-7-4) when they've allowed at least one goal in a match this season.

Sacramento State could lose on Thursday and still make the six-team Big Sky tournament but would need other results to go its way.

"They come in needing their own results to make sure they're safe," said coach Chris Citowicki. "They beat NAU to start league, so you know they are going to be good and defend well. And they have players who can score."

On Sunday, Montana will host Portland State in a match that might mean everything to the conference race or come after the trophy has already found a home in Missoula.

Either way, it's been a very successful season for the Vikings, who were picked in a tie for seventh in the preseason poll, ahead of only Idaho State.

Portland State raced out to a 4-0-1 start to league, then lost 3-2 at Idaho State last week before playing to a 0-0 draw at Weber State. That one-point road trip allowed Montana to jump to the top of the standings.

"The amount of heart they are playing with is the thing that immediately jumps out," said Citowicki. "They've got that extra piece, which is really cool. There is clearly a togetherness and a want to get a result."

On Friday night at Pocatello, the Vikings fell behind Idaho State 3-0 through 59 minutes before scoring in the 66th and 84th minutes to make things tense at Davis Field.

"Instead of rolling over, they kept going and kept coming back. And they almost got back. That's a character component that makes them extremely dangerous," said Citowicki. "They don't know how to give up, which is why they've gotten results."

Before Sunday's match, seven seniors will be recognized. Sydney Haustein was a freshman in 2019. Molly Quarry was added prior to the 2021 spring season, Charley Boone after the 2021 spring season.

Kathleen Aitchison and Maysa Walters joined the program before the 2022 season, Abby Gearhart and Audrey Teague over the summer for one last season this fall after playing four years at Bucknell and Regis, respectively.

"What a mix of personalities and an interesting group of people," said Citowicki. "A lot of good, quiet leadership."

After Haustein was recruited as an incoming freshman, the others were pieced into the program over the years to build the type of team that could play under the lights at Northern Arizona on a chilly October night and rally for a 2-1 victory.

"Every person in this program is recruited to help us win a game like that, to help us win games in playoffs, to help us win a game in the NCAA tournament," said Citowicki.

"How close can we get to beating Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon State? They've come in and put us in a spot where we can compete in games like that and hopefully win them."

Upcoming: Montana will take either the No. 1 or 2 seed to Flagstaff in two weeks for the Big Sky tournament.