Griz, Eagles play to 1-1 draw

Sunday, October 13

Missoula, Mont.

1 PM

Montana

9-2-3, 3-0-1BSC

Eastern Washington

6-5-4, 1-1-3BSC

Eastern Washington

Montana

Photo by: Taylor Decker/University of Montana

10/13/2024 8:06:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana soccer team played to a 1-1 draw with Eastern Washington on Sunday afternoon at South Campus Stadium in Missoula.

With more than five dozen program alumnae cheering them on, the Grizzlies fought back from a 1-0 halftime deficit, pulling even on Chloe Seelhoff's fifth goal of the season in the 71st minute.

Charity Freeman put the Eagles (6-5-4, 1-1-3 BSC) ahead midway through the first half with her second goal of the season.

The tie keeps Montana (9-2-3, 3-0-1 BSC) unbeaten since August and improves the Grizzlies to 8-0-1 at South Campus Stadium this season and unbeaten in their last 14 home matches.

Montana is in a tie atop the Big Sky Conference standings with Idaho, though the Vandals have played one more league match than the Grizzlies.

If the pregame vibe was all Montana, thanks to a five-match winning streak, Homecoming weekend, sunny skies and all the program alums gathered at the facility, the first half was mostly Eagles.

Eastern Washington got Montana on its heels early and kept the Grizzlies there for most of the opening half, taking the match's first six shots and generating five first-half corner kicks.

The Eagles broke through in the 24th minute when Grace Terrill's shot was blocked but the ball made its way to Freeman, who scored to give Montana its first deficit since the first half at Wyoming on Sept. 8.

"Kudos to them. They set up nicely. It was what I was anticipating. I thought we could have prepared our team a little bit better at how to defend against it," said coach Chris Citowicki.

"We had people drop into spots we shouldn't have been, then they could overload players going forward. Once we changed and adjusted a couple things, the game became even."

Montana was able to get to the half down 1-0 despite not putting a shot on goal through the opening 45 minutes.

"It wasn't about not trying hard enough. It was, get the ball to these spots to these people at these times, and then make sure you're doing this on the defensive side and the game will even out," said Citowicki of his halftime address.

"Then find a way to score."

Seelhoff released the pent-up anxiety of more than 1,000 in attendance when she took a through ball from Taija Anderson up the right side, stopped on the spot to clear her defender, then ripped the equalizer past EWU goalkeeper Kamryn Willoughby.

That the game-changing pass came off Anderson's foot just past midfield is a credit both to her and to Citowicki's program that rewards players for what they do in practice.

Anderson had only played 19 minutes this season, all coming against IU Indianapolis more than a month ago. But she checked in during the first half, then was back on the field again in the second.

"We created the one look we needed," said Citowicki. "Kudos to Taija, who's been practicing extremely well. She gets some of her first minutes of the season, then sets up Chloe and we score.

"For us to respond after losing 20 minutes of the game, trying to figure it out, we'll take the tie because Eastern was very good today."

Had the Eagles, who took 15 shots, putting eight of them on goal, netted the game-winner at some point after Seelhoff's equalizer, that, too, would have felt like a fair result.

Eastern Washington was that sharp and that dialed in but Bayliss Flynn had her most dynamic match of the season, showing off her entire goalkeeper skillset.

She attacked through balls before they could find a foot, she made kick saves, she controlled the box on set pieces, including eight EWU corner kicks, she made leaping saves while retreating. She showed it all on Sunday.

"She is on fire," said Citowicki. "Some of her blocks on the scrappy balls that were bobbling around the 18-yard box were game-saving."

Montana out-shot Eastern Washington 8-5 in the second half to pull even for the match, 15-15, though only four of the Grizzlies' shots were on goal, half as many as the Eagles had.

In the end, it was a tie, not as good as a win but much better than a loss.

"We talked about it at halftime, when things aren't clicking, don't panic," said Citowicki. "If we can organize correctly and show up at the right spots at the right times, we'll be all right."

If Montana wants to wins its second consecutive Big Sky championship and its fourth in six years, the Grizzlies will have to produce on the road over the next two weeks.

Three of Montana's final four regular-season matches will come away from home, starting with a match at Sacramento State on Friday.

The Grizzlies will host Portland State next Sunday on Senior Day, then wrap up the regular season with a road trip to Idaho State and Weber State.