Griz head to Flagstaff seeking Big Sky championship

The Montana soccer team, the tournament's No. 1 seed, will travel to Flagstaff, Ariz., this week for the six-team Big Sky Conference Championship, held at Northern Arizona's Lumberjack Stadium.

The Grizzlies will face either No. 4 Northern Arizona or No. 5 Sacramento State on Friday at 7 p.m. (MT) in that day's second semifinal. The Lumberjacks and Hornets square off on Wednesday in a quarterfinal match.

Wednesday's first quarterfinal match features No. 3 Portland State and No. 6 Idaho State. The winner of that match advances to face No. 2 Idaho on Friday afternoon.

The championship match will be played at 1 p.m. on Sunday, with the winner moving on to represent the Big Sky at the NCAA tournament.

Coverage: All five matches in Flagstaff will have live stats and live coverage on ESPN+.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies take the No. 1 seed into the postseason for the seventh time in program history, the third time under sixth-year coach Chris Citowicki, whose team was the top seed in both 2019 and the 2021 spring season.

The Grizzlies secured the No. 1 seed by going 7-0-1 in league, opening with a 1-1 draw at Eastern Washington, then closing the regular season with seven consecutive wins during which it outscored its opponents 13-2.

It was the 10th unbeaten season in league history, since the Big Sky started sponsoring women's soccer in 1997.

Montana's 13-2-3 overall record during the regular season was the best in program history. In Big Sky history, only Weber State, which went 17-3-0 in 1998, had a better regular-season winning percentage and only Sacramento State, which went 11-1-6 in 2019, had fewer losses.

The Grizzlies have outscored their opponents 33-8 this season. It's the most goals scored for Montana since 2000. The Big Sky record for fewest goals allowed in a season is 12, by Northern Arizona in 2018 and Weber State in 1998. The program record is 15, set by Citowicki's 2021 NCAA tournament team.

Montana hasn't lost since Sept. 10 and enters the postseason without a goal allowed in more than 348 minutes. The Grizzlies are on a seven-match winning streak, a 10-match unbeaten streak.

Griz collect Big Sky honors: After a historic regular season, Montana picked up a big collection of postseason awards from the Big Sky Conference.

Chris Citowicki, who has six Big Sky regular-season or tournament titles to his credit, was named Big Sky Coach of the Year for the first time. He is Montana's third winner of the award, following Betsy Duerksen in 1999 and Mark Plakorus in 2014.

Skyleigh Thompson was voted the Offensive MVP, Abby Gearhart the Newcomer of the Year and Ashlyn Dvorak the Freshman of the Year. Delaney Lou Schorr, who tied for first in league play with four goals and nine points, won the Golden Boot award.

Thompson, Dvorak and Schorr were named first-team All-Big Sky, as were Charley Boone and Ava Samuelson, giving Montana five first-team selections for the first time since 2004. Kathleen Aitchison and Maddie Ditta were voted second-team All-Big Sky.

Thompson is Montana's seventh Offensive MVP in its history, the first since Erin Craig in 2012. Schorr is Montana's fifth Golden Boot winner, the Grizzlies' first since 2006.

In the national statistics: Montana ranks first in the nation in save percentage (.909), is tied for seventh in goals-against average (0.44) and is tied for 10th in shutouts (11).

Ashlyn Dvorak ranks second in save percentage (.906), is tied for third in shutouts (11) and is tied for seventh in goals-against average (0.44).

Postseason history: Montana is making its Big Sky-record 22nd tournament appearance this week. The Grizzlies have an all-time record of 18-12-4, with tournament titles in 1997, '99, 2000, '11, '18, spring '21 and fall '21.

Montana is the 10th team in Big Sky history to take an unbeaten league record into the postseason. The previous nine teams have won the championship just thrice, Montana in 1997 and '99, Sacramento State in 2007.

The last five teams to take an unbeaten league record into the postseason – Northern Arizona (6-0-1) in 2010, Portland State (8-0-1) in 2013, Montana (8-0-2) in 2014, Idaho (9-0-1) in 2015 and Montana (6-0-3) in 2019 – all came up short of raising the tournament trophy.

Montana is 7-2-0 all-time playing as the No. 1 seed.

Tournament notes:

* When No. 3 Portland State faced No. 6 Idaho State during the regular season, the Bengals won 3-2 in Pocatello.

* When No. 4 Northern Arizona faced No. 5 Sacramento State during the regular season, the Hornets won 1-0 in Sacramento.

* No. 2 Idaho lost 2-1 at Portland State during the regular season and won 4-0 at Idaho State.

* No. 1 Montana won 2-1 at Northern Arizona during the regular season and won 2-0 at home over Sacramento State.

* Unlike the regular season, postseason matches open up the possibility of overtime. Matches tied after 90 minutes will play out two 10-minute overtime sessions, even if an overtime goal is scored. Matches that are deadlocked after 110 minutes will advance to a shootout.

Quoting coach Chris Citowicki:

On playing in the postseason: "We know the mindset you have to have, that games come down to set pieces and defensive organization. Most often you're going to end up winning on a corner kick or a free kick. You have to keep yourself alive and then try to find a rhythm.

"Those are the things we're going to focus on, specifically second balls out of the air. Not many teams are going to play short on (NAU's) field. It's how you regain control of the ball during that and attack. We've got the right ideas, it's whether we can execute it."

On advancing to the semifinals to face a team coming off a quarterfinal win: "The hardest piece is not having momentum in our first game. Whoever wins that first game comes in on an adrenaline high.

"In 2021, I think Sacramento was better than us in the semifinal (a match Montana won 1-0 on a goal in the 87th minute). They were on such a high from winning that first game. It's hard to overcome that high and the taste of winning they had while you haven't played for 12 days."

On potentially playing a match that goes to overtime or a shootout: "There are so many games ending in shootouts around the country right now, then there is the factor of overtime. You've been playing 90-minute games, now there is something extra built into it. There are so many things that change."

On potentially playing host Northern Arizona on Friday night: "It will be similar to the last time we were there, same intensity. It's nice we've been there before.

"The piece that's different is being at elevation for an extended period of time. What does the elevation do to us? There are a lot of mysteries about going up there for that length of time. We've got people on staff who are knowledgeable. We're trying to put all that together."

Montana notes:

* Coach Chris Citowicki earned his 50th win at Montana this season, plus his 100th win as a college head coach.

* In going 7-0-1 in league, Montana improved its all-time Big Sky record to 117-59-31 (.640). … Citowicki, including the postseason, has gone 40-10-10 against Big Sky opponents.

* Sydney Haustein now ranks second in career matches played in program history. Her 86 matches played trail only Taylor Hansen's record of 92.

* Haustein is tied for eighth in career matches started with 75. Shannon Forslund holds the program record of 83.

* Ava Samuelson has 12 career assists. She is one away from cracking the top 10 in program history.

* Montana has an all-time record of 20-7-6 against Sacramento State. The Grizzlies are 10-0-2 against the Hornets in the teams' last 12 matchups with just four goals allowed. Montana is 2-0-1 against Sacramento State in the postseason.

* Montana has an all-time record of 18-7-5 against Northern Arizona. The Grizzlies are 5-1-4 against the Lumberjacks in the teams' last 10 matchups with six goals allowed. Montana is 4-0-0 against Northern Arizona in the postseason.

* Montana has five players with four or more goals this season, the first time that's happened since 2000.

* Four of Delaney Lou Schorr's five goals this season came in the month of October. … Skyleigh Thompson scored in three straight matches in October. It was the first time a Grizzly scored in three consecutive matches since Hallie Widner to open the 2016 season.

* Abby Gearhart scored three of her four goals in league matches. … Maddie Ditta has scored four career goals. All four have been game-winners. … Four of Delaney Lou Schorr's five goals this season have been game-winners.

* Montana has allowed only two second-half goals this season, against Colorado State and Weber State. The Grizzlies have outscored their opponents 16-6 in the first half, 17-2 in the second half.

* This week's Big Sky RPIs (out of 347): Montana (82), Idaho (182), Northern Arizona (260), Portland State (280), Idaho State (286), Sacramento State (302), Weber State (305), Eastern Washington (326), Northern Colorado (327).

Upcoming: The Big Sky tournament champion will learn of its NCAA tournament matchup when the selection show airs on NCAA.com on Monday at 2 p.m. (MT).

Griz head to Flagstaff seeking Big Sky championship

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Players Mentioned

Kathleen Aitchison

Charley Boone

Maddie Ditta

Ashlyn Dvorak

Abby Gearhart

Sydney Haustein

Ava Samuelson

Delaney Lou Schorr

Skyleigh Thompson

University of Montana Athletics