Photo by: John Sieber via UM Athletics
Montana soccer program signs eight for ‘24
11/9/2023 9:42:00 AM | Soccer
The Montana women's soccer program, which has won six Big Sky Conference championships under coach Chris Citowicki, signed eight prep players to National Letters of Intent on Wednesday.
The Grizzlies won their most recent title last month, a Big Sky regular-season championship that highlighted a historic fall that ended with a 13-3-3 record.
Montana reloaded its midfield with five players and added a defender, a forward and a multi-position athlete. All will be incoming freshmen next fall:
Hayley Bass, midfielder (Divide, Colo.; Colorado Springs Christian)
Reagan Brisendine, forward (Kalispell, Mont.; Glacier HS)
Caylee Kerr, midfielder (Spokane, Wash.; Gonzaga Preparatory School)
Taylie Nowels, defender (Lakes Tapps, Wash.; Sumner Senior HS)
Lydia Robertson, midfielder (Milton, Ga.; Rivers Academy)
Ashlyn Sandow, athlete (Boise, Idaho; Timberline HS)
Carly Whalen, midfielder (Issaquah, Wash.; Liberty HS)
Emma Widmor, midfielder (Boise, Idaho; Timberline HS)
Montana will return eight players next fall who started at least 10 matches this season. The personnel losses the Grizzlies do have will come mainly from the midfield.
Kathleen Aitchison, second-team All-Big Sky, Sydney Haustein, a five-year starter, and Maysa Walters all were five-year college players.
Abby Gearhart, a forward who moved to the midfield after Walters was lost for the season to an injury in September, was voted the Big Sky Newcomer of the Year in her one season as a Grizzly.
"When you look at who we're graduating out of the midfield, it got very thin all of a sudden," said Citowicki, who will return Maddie Ditta, Bella O'Brien, Emma Pascoe and Perrin Pennington at midfield.
Ditta was second-team All-Big Sky as a sophomore.
"Knowing that, we had to bring in players who can compete and fill that void and who can challenge for playing time. It's a group I'm excited about," said Citowicki.
"The main thing for me was succession so we can continue going. Somebody has to help this thing continue winning and competing at the highest level. That's what they can do."
Midfielders Kerr and Whalen will arrive from Washington, Widmor from Idaho, Bass from Colorado and Robertson from Georgia, the same home state as Pennington.
"The way Carly moves the ball is special. Hayley, out of Real Colorado, comes from one of the top ECNL programs in the country, and Emma is an absolute pit bull in the middle of the field," said Citowicki.
"Lydia, from another high-level ECNL team, can move the ball extremely well and plays very simple in the game. Caylee is a very special player who just makes things happen.
"It's a great group of young players who can challenge for playing time. If they break in and get it, great. If they don't, they will develop into really good players because the talent level is through the roof."
Brisendine, a forward, was an all-state selection as a junior after she totaled 33 goals for Glacier High, including an eight-goal match against Butte.
Montana forward Skyleigh Thompson, the Big Sky Conference Offensive MVP, also is from Kalispell.
"We always want to add kids out of Montana," said Citowicki. "Like Skye, Reagan can take players on and get to the end line, cut back, score goals.
"Excited to add someone like that, someone people will enjoy watching, just like they've enjoyed watching Skye and (Eliza Bentler of Billings) in those positions."
Sandow, from Boise, could be listed with any position group, outside of goalkeeper. "She is a jack of all trades," said Citowicki. "She could play pretty much every position.
"For high school, she plays center back. I've seen her play midfield, I've seen her play forward. She can do everything. She has the technical ability to be everywhere all over the field."
Montana loses just one player to graduation from the back line, outside back Molly Quarry, who started nine matches in the fall.
Center back Charley Boone and outside back Ava Samuelson both were voted first-team All-Big Sky. Reeve Borseth started all 19 matches alongside Boone at center back.
Nowels joins the program as an outside back, a player in the mold of Samuelson, who likes to get up the field with the ball and make things happen.
"I wanted someone to come in and learn the position, learn how to operate in this environment and be ready to go in 2025," said Citowicki. "If she is ready to go earlier, awesome.
"She is very talented and hungry, a classic Griz outside back. There is competition ahead of her that she is going to have to beat out. Long term, she should be a very good player."
Citowicki, who just completed his sixth year at Montana, led the Grizzlies to regular-season titles in 2019, the 2021 spring season and this past fall, when his team went unbeaten in league at 7-0-1.
Montana won Big Sky tournament championships in 2018 and in both the 2021 spring and 2021 fall seasons.
The Grizzlies won their most recent title last month, a Big Sky regular-season championship that highlighted a historic fall that ended with a 13-3-3 record.
Montana reloaded its midfield with five players and added a defender, a forward and a multi-position athlete. All will be incoming freshmen next fall:
Hayley Bass, midfielder (Divide, Colo.; Colorado Springs Christian)
Reagan Brisendine, forward (Kalispell, Mont.; Glacier HS)
Caylee Kerr, midfielder (Spokane, Wash.; Gonzaga Preparatory School)
Taylie Nowels, defender (Lakes Tapps, Wash.; Sumner Senior HS)
Lydia Robertson, midfielder (Milton, Ga.; Rivers Academy)
Ashlyn Sandow, athlete (Boise, Idaho; Timberline HS)
Carly Whalen, midfielder (Issaquah, Wash.; Liberty HS)
Emma Widmor, midfielder (Boise, Idaho; Timberline HS)
Montana will return eight players next fall who started at least 10 matches this season. The personnel losses the Grizzlies do have will come mainly from the midfield.
Kathleen Aitchison, second-team All-Big Sky, Sydney Haustein, a five-year starter, and Maysa Walters all were five-year college players.
Abby Gearhart, a forward who moved to the midfield after Walters was lost for the season to an injury in September, was voted the Big Sky Newcomer of the Year in her one season as a Grizzly.
"When you look at who we're graduating out of the midfield, it got very thin all of a sudden," said Citowicki, who will return Maddie Ditta, Bella O'Brien, Emma Pascoe and Perrin Pennington at midfield.
Ditta was second-team All-Big Sky as a sophomore.
"Knowing that, we had to bring in players who can compete and fill that void and who can challenge for playing time. It's a group I'm excited about," said Citowicki.
"The main thing for me was succession so we can continue going. Somebody has to help this thing continue winning and competing at the highest level. That's what they can do."
Midfielders Kerr and Whalen will arrive from Washington, Widmor from Idaho, Bass from Colorado and Robertson from Georgia, the same home state as Pennington.
"The way Carly moves the ball is special. Hayley, out of Real Colorado, comes from one of the top ECNL programs in the country, and Emma is an absolute pit bull in the middle of the field," said Citowicki.
"Lydia, from another high-level ECNL team, can move the ball extremely well and plays very simple in the game. Caylee is a very special player who just makes things happen.
"It's a great group of young players who can challenge for playing time. If they break in and get it, great. If they don't, they will develop into really good players because the talent level is through the roof."
Brisendine, a forward, was an all-state selection as a junior after she totaled 33 goals for Glacier High, including an eight-goal match against Butte.
Montana forward Skyleigh Thompson, the Big Sky Conference Offensive MVP, also is from Kalispell.
"We always want to add kids out of Montana," said Citowicki. "Like Skye, Reagan can take players on and get to the end line, cut back, score goals.
"Excited to add someone like that, someone people will enjoy watching, just like they've enjoyed watching Skye and (Eliza Bentler of Billings) in those positions."
Sandow, from Boise, could be listed with any position group, outside of goalkeeper. "She is a jack of all trades," said Citowicki. "She could play pretty much every position.
"For high school, she plays center back. I've seen her play midfield, I've seen her play forward. She can do everything. She has the technical ability to be everywhere all over the field."
Montana loses just one player to graduation from the back line, outside back Molly Quarry, who started nine matches in the fall.
Center back Charley Boone and outside back Ava Samuelson both were voted first-team All-Big Sky. Reeve Borseth started all 19 matches alongside Boone at center back.
Nowels joins the program as an outside back, a player in the mold of Samuelson, who likes to get up the field with the ball and make things happen.
"I wanted someone to come in and learn the position, learn how to operate in this environment and be ready to go in 2025," said Citowicki. "If she is ready to go earlier, awesome.
"She is very talented and hungry, a classic Griz outside back. There is competition ahead of her that she is going to have to beat out. Long term, she should be a very good player."
Citowicki, who just completed his sixth year at Montana, led the Grizzlies to regular-season titles in 2019, the 2021 spring season and this past fall, when his team went unbeaten in league at 7-0-1.
Montana won Big Sky tournament championships in 2018 and in both the 2021 spring and 2021 fall seasons.
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