Griz get Hornets, Vikings as end of season nears

The Montana soccer team, tied atop the Big Sky Conference standings with only two weeks left in the regular season, will play matches this week against Sacramento State and Portland State.

The Grizzlies (9-2-3, 3-0-1 BSC) will face the third-place Hornets (4-6-4, 2-2-1 BSC) on Friday at 3 p.m. (MT) at Hornet Field in Sacramento, then return home to host the Vikings (3-6-4, 1-1-3 BSC) on Sunday at noon at South Campus Stadium on Senior Day.

Portland State, which plays at Northern Arizona under the lights on Friday evening, is currently tied for fourth place in the Big Sky.

Sunday's match will be the final regular-season home game for the Grizzlies, who end the regular season at Idaho State and Weber State next week. Montana will host the six-team Big Sky tournament at South Campus Stadium in early November.

What's at stake: Montana, tied with Idaho atop the Big Sky standings but with four matches left to the Vandals' three, is trying to win its fourth regular-season championship in the last six years. The regular-season champion will host next year's tournament.

Sacramento State, with a win on Friday, could pull even with Montana in the league standings with 10 points. Portland State is one of three teams tied for fourth with six points, only two points ahead of the bottom three teams as nine fight to make next month's six-team Big Sky tournament.

Grizzlies ranked once again: Montana, which has been ranked in all nine United Soccer Coaches West Region polls this season, is No. 4 this week, behind Santa Clara, Pepperdine and Portland.

Santa Clara is ranked No. 7 in this week's national poll, Pepperdine is No. 13. Portland, which played to a 1-1 draw at Washington State on Saturday, has matched its highest regional ranking of the season.

Montana has gone 0-1-0 against teams in this week's West Region poll, falling 3-0 at Washington State in the third game of the season. The Cougars are No. 9 in the region.

The Grizzlies are 1-0-0 against teams currently ranked in the Pacific Region, with a 2-0 home win over No. 3 Boise State.

Citowicki one win away: Seventh-year coach Chris Citowicki, who has a record at Montana of 65-35-25, needs one victory to become the second-winningest coach in program history behind Betsy Duerksen, who went 117-69-7 over the first 10 years of the program.

Citowicki is currently tied with the coach he replaced. Mark Plakorus had a seven-year record of 65-56-24.

Estes named Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week: Jen Estes was named the Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday after scoring both goals in Montana's 2-1 home win over Idaho on Thursday.

Estes, who had six goals and six assists in three seasons playing at Princeton, leads the Grizzlies in both goals (6) and points (15). She ranks second in the Big Sky in both categories.

Estes also was named the Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week last month after scoring twice in Montana's 3-3 draw at Wyoming.

Montana has earned five Player of the Week honors this season. On the offensive side, Estes has been honored twice, Chloe Seelhoff once. On the defensive side, goalkeepers Ashlyn Dvorak and Bayliss Flynn have each been recognized once.

Montana unbeaten since August: The Grizzlies have not lost a match since falling 2-1 at Fresno State back on August 29. Since that loss, Montana is 6-0-3 with five goals allowed.

At a glance (Montana): Facing a critical week of important home matches, the Grizzlies came out their short home stand with four points in the Big Sky standings, with a 2-1 win over Idaho on Thursday and a 1-1 draw with Eastern Washington on Sunday.

In Thursday's highly anticipated match against Idaho, all three goals scored by the Grizzlies and Vandals came in the opening 15 minutes.

Estes put Montana up 1-0 in the ninth minute, Idaho evened the score less than a minute later off a corner kick, and Estes scored the game-winner in the 15th minute.

Estes now has six goals, matching the team-high six Skyleigh Thompson scored last season when she was voted the Big Sky Offensive MVP. Montana has not had a player score more than seven goals since Erin Craig netted 10 in 2011.

Estes's first goal was assisted by Kayla Rendon Bushmaker, her third assist of the season after totaling two her first two years as a Grizzly. Estes's second goal on Thursday was assisted by Chloe Seelhoff, the first of the season for the Washington transfer who has five goals.

On Sunday, Montana and Eastern Washington played to a 1-1 draw. The Grizzlies trailed 1-0 at the half, only the third time this season and first since August that they trailed at the break.

Chloe Seelhoff earned a draw for Montana with a goal in the 71st minute. She was assisted by Taija Anderson, who picked up her first collegiate point.

The two matches marked the first time this season that Montana allowed goals in back-to-back games. That hadn't previously happened in more than a year, in September 2023, when Colorado State and Georgia Southern scored in consecutive matches against the Grizzlies.

Bayliss Flynn improved to 6-0-3 as a starter since replacing the injured Ashlyn Dvorak last month.

Flynn ranks fifth nationally in save percentage (.894), 22nd in goals-against average (0.56) and is tied for 30th with six shutouts.

At a glance (Sacramento State): The Hornets opened league with 2-0 and 3-0 losses at Idaho and Eastern Washington but bounced back with a big offensive showing the following week, defeating Idaho State and Weber State at home by scores of 4-1 and 3-0.

Sacramento State extended its unbeaten streak to three last week with a 1-1 home draw with Northern Colorado.

After hosting Montana on Friday, the Hornets travel to Flagstaff to face Northern Arizona on Sunday afternoon. They end the regular season with a match at Portland State on Sunday, Oct. 27.

Sacramento State went 4-9-5 last season, finishing fifth in the Big Sky with a 2-3-3 league record. The No. 5 Hornets lost 3-0 to No. 4 Northern Arizona in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament.

Sacramento State was picked fifth in this year's preseason poll.

The Hornets have four players who have scored multiple goals this season, with senior midfielder Abigail Lopez leading the way with four goals and three assists. She has two goals and two assists in the last three matches.

Redshirt sophomore Izzy Palmatier has started all 14 matches in goal this season. She has a 1.43 goals-against average and .762 save percentage.

Randy Dedini, a three-time Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year, is in his 18th year leading the Hornets. He led Sacramento State to the NCAA tournament in 2007 and '10, and to a Big Sky runner-up finish in 2006.

Series history: Montana has gone 20-7-6 all-time against Sacramento State and is 9-5-2 against the Hornets in Sacramento.

The Grizzlies have won six straight matches against the Hornets and are unbeaten (10-0-2) against Sacramento State in the teams' last 12 meetings.

Montana, at 5-0-1, has left Sacramento with a positive result on its last six visits.

The Hornets' last win in the series was a 3-0 victory in Missoula in 2013. Their last home win over the Grizzlies was a 2-0 victory in 2012.

At a glance (Portland State): The Vikings opened the season with four straight losses with one goal scored before breaking through with a 3-2 win at South Dakota.

Three games later, Portland State collected one of the Big Sky's top wins this season, a 1-0 home victory over Seattle, a team now 8-2-4 and ranked second in the Pacific Region.

While the Vikings have only three wins this season, they have lost only once in their last seven matches, going 2-1-4.

In league, PSU has a 1-0 home win over Northern Colorado, a 3-0 road loss at Idaho and 1-1 draws against Eastern Washington and Weber State and a scoreless tie against Idaho State.

After playing at Northern Arizona on Friday night and at Montana on Sunday afternoon, the Vikings host Sacramento State a week from Sunday in their final match of the regular season.

Portland State finished third in the Big Sky standings in both 2022 and '23, and was picked a strong fourth this year behind Montana, Northern Arizona and Idaho.

The Vikings have won or shared five regular-season Big Sky titles in their history but have never won the league tournament. They finished runner-up in 2002 and '13.

Portland State ranks 297th nationally with 10 goals scored this season in 13 matches. The Vikings have been shut out five times and have scored once seven times. Their only multiple-goal match was their 3-2 win at South Dakota.

Fifth-year senior goalkeeper Eden Millan was named the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday. She has a 1.18 goals-against average and a .841 save percentage in nine starts.

Katie Burton is in her eighth year as head coach. Maureen Whitney is in her first as co-head coach, her eighth year on Burton's staff.

Series history: Montana owns a 17-13-4 all-time record against Portland State and has gone 9-6-3 at home against the Vikings.

Montana has won two straight over the Vikings and is 8-2-2 against PSU in the teams' last 12 match-ups.

Portland State's last win in the series was a 1-0 home victory in 2022. The Vikings' last win in Missoula was a 1-0 victory in 2013. Montana has gone 5-0-2 at home against PSU since then.

Match notes:

* Montana, which finished last season at 96, is up to 92 in this week's NCAA RPI.

* Other RPIs: Idaho (139), Eastern Washington (199), Portland State (247), Northern Arizona (255), Idaho State (273), Sacramento State (276), Weber State (292), Northern Colorado (308).

* Among Montana's non-conference opponents, four are ranked in the top 150 in the latest RPI: Boise State (67), Washington State (102), Fresno State (138) and Air Force (150).

* Montana is unbeaten at home this season (8-0-1) and is 32-7-9 in Missoula since the start of the 2019 season.

* The Grizzlies are unbeaten in league matches (10-0-2) over the last two seasons. Coach Chris Citowicki is 36-8-11 in Big Sky matches, 43-11-11 against league teams overall, including the postseason.

* Thursday in the Big Sky: EWU at ISU

* Friday in the Big Sky: UM at SAC, WSU at UI, PSU at NAU

* Sunday in the Big Sky: PSU at UM, WSU at EWU, ISU at UI, SAC at NAU

Upcoming: Montana wraps up the regular season with matches at Idaho State and Weber State next week.

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Taija Anderson

Ashlyn Dvorak

Jen Estes

Bayliss Flynn

Kayla Rendon Bushmaker

Chloe Seelhoff

Skyleigh Thompson

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