Griz send record crowd home happy

Sunday, August 27

Missoula, Mont.

6 PM

Montana

3-0-1

Ohio State

1-2-1

Team	1	2	Final F
Ohio State	2	0	2
Montana	1	1	2

Montana faced The Ohio State University in a college soccer game on August 27, 2023 at the South Campus Stadium. The game

Photo by: Tommy Martino/UM Athletics

8/27/2023 11:25:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

It was 98 percent of the way to perfect.

The Montana soccer team drew a record crowd to South Campus Stadium on an ideal late-summer evening on Sunday and played host to Ohio State. Yes, that Ohio State.

The Grizzlies scored the opening goal and the match's final goal and came away with a 2-2 draw, with the home team going for the victory late while the visitors spent the back portion of the second half just trying to get out of town with a draw.

The fans saw it, knew it, loved it and expressed it. All that was missing was that one goal that would have sent everyone home not just happy but ecstatic, that final two percent.

That's what the Montana soccer program has become under sixth-year coach Chris Citowicki, a draw with Ohio State feeling like it was just maybe a bit of a missed opportunity. Take a bow, Grizzlies.

"Amazing night. The number of times someone punched me on the sideline and said, look at what we've done, it was pretty cool," said Citowicki, whose team drew a crowd of 1,973, which smashed the previous record of 1,093 set more than two decades ago, in 1999.

"I don't think it's going to sink in for me for another day or so. The energy coming out of that bleacher was just incredible. And the noise after we scored was one of the coolest things ever."

Even though Montana's second-half goal that tied the match at 2-2 was an own goal by the Buckeyes, this was not just a fortunate end result for the Grizzlies, one of those only-in-soccer outcomes.

They created a penalty kick in the opening minutes, outshot Ohio State 13-7 for the match and spent the final 15 minutes controlling possession and putting themselves in position to staple a Power 5 win to the locker room wall.

"It wasn't a tie because we got two lucky shots that went in," said Citowicki. "It was an end-to-end game. They took a punch, we took a punch." And down the stretch, it was all Montana. "We had a chance. We were adventurous enough to push everyone forward to try to get it done.

"We took it. We were aggressive. We wanted to find a way to win this game. That's what we went out to do."

When Montana hosted Pittsburgh early in the season last fall, it looked like you'd expect when the Grizzlies hosted an NCAA tournament team from a Power 5 conference. The Panthers, if not the appreciably better team, certainly believed they were the better team. And played like it.

Things are different now. It's the power of belief.

After Montana survived two early Ohio State corner kicks in the opening seven minutes – the Buckeyes would only have one more over the final 83 minutes – the Grizzlies went on the attack.

Skyleigh Thompson, with the ball in space on the right side of the field, set herself up for a shot. With Maysa Walters running interference, the ball got loose in front of goal and all OSU's Sydney Jones could do was swat at the ball. Except she isn't a goalkeeper. No hands allowed. Penalty kick.

"It was the buildup to it. We had a chance to just randomly cross it in the box, but it was to get to that position where we'd have a higher percentage chance of scoring and then get the penalty kick that I'm most proud of," said Citowicki.

"We're trying to be more deliberate in our attack and not just lump it forward and hope it goes in. Really, really pleased how we built to those moments."

Walters, a fifth-year senior who played in two NCAA tournaments at New Mexico before transferring back to her home state for her final two seasons, drilled the penalty kick.

Montana led less than nine minutes into the match. Bedlam. The fans who set the record were rewarded early. Sitting on hands would not be needed.

"This is top three easily," said Walters of where Sunday's match ranks on her list of best college soccer experiences, this from someone who has advanced in the NCAA tournament. "The Griz Nation that came out tonight, we couldn't have done it without them.

"It was a very even match. This team has really matured over the last two years. When we played Pitt, we were a little hesitant. Then we progressed against BYU in the spring. We started to realize we could compete. Tonight, we competed all 90 minutes."

But Ohio State is Ohio State, and the Buckeyes not only tied it, they took the lead with back-to-back goals less than four minutes apart, scoring in the 26th and 30th minutes.

"Great goals. Nothing you can say," said Citowicki. "We could have pressed the second one more aggressively, but when you give high-level players that much time, they do high-level things, and they scored two beautiful goals."

Ohio State held a 2-1 lead to the half, but Montana brought its fans right back into the match, finding the equalizer in the 59th minute.

Walters took a rocket of a corner kick, placed it perfectly, and all an Ohio State defender could do was get her shoulder on it. And send it right into the goal. Own goal or not, it was 2-2.

"Maysa put so much pace on the delivery," said Citowicki. "We worked so hard on it. Yesterday (assistant coach J. Landham) took them through a 40-minute set-piece session

"Beforehand we even went into set pieces in the locker room. We went five minutes early just so we could go over them again. Be in the right spots at the right times. That's how we got it done."

Montana outshot Ohio State 8-3 over the final 45 minutes, with the freeze-frame image of the final 15 minutes being 21 players on the Grizzlies' attacking end of the field, the only outlier being Montana goalkeeper Ashlyn Dvorak.

Montana went for it, kept the energy within the facility at electric levels until the final whistle, 98 percent of the way there.

"Really good environment," said 27th-year Ohio State head coach Lori Walker-Hock, whose school has the same national reputation that Montana owns within the Big Sky Conference. Every match brings with it a target on their backs. Everyone loves to beat the Buckeyes and Grizzlies.

"Anyplace we go, we love to draw a crowd. The excitement was there and we certainly gave them an exciting game. It's good for women's soccer. These are the environments we want for women's soccer. Kudos to the Griz for doing that."

They'll enjoy it. They've certainly earned it, opening 3-0-1 and playing to a draw with Ohio State, but it is still August. While they may not be as magical, important matches are still to be played, starting next weekend in Spokane, against Utah Tech and Oklahoma.

"We're going to enjoy it, then we're going to get back to work," said Citowicki. "They're mature enough to do that. And if not, we're mature enough as a staff to tell them."

In three weeks, it's off to Oregon State, then league play, then playoffs. Will Ohio State be a springboard to greater and greater things? Only time will tell. But on this night, no one can argue that things were almost perfect.