Griz open October at Northern Colorado

The Montana soccer team, coming off an unbeaten September, will open its October schedule with a match at Northern Colorado on Sunday afternoon.

The Grizzlies (7-2-2, 1-0-0 BSC) and Bears (3-10-0, 1-1-0 BSC) will kick off at noon at Jackson Stadium in Greeley.

Sunday's game will be the last of four consecutive single-match weeks for Montana, which is up to No. 3 in this week's United Soccer Coaches West Region poll.

The Grizzlies will close out their regular-season schedule with three straight two-match weeks before hosting the six-team Big Sky Conference Championship in early November.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies opened their Big Sky schedule on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Northern Arizona at South Campus Stadium.

With the win, Montana improved to 7-0-0 at home this season without a goal allowed.

Maddie Ditta opened the scoring in the 14th minute with the game-winner, Chloe Seelhoff made it 2-0 in the 33rd minute.

Ditta's goal was her second of the season, her first coming in Montana's 3-0 home win over Oregon State. She was assisted by Carly Whalen, who has three assists and a goal over the last three matches.

Seelhoff's goal was her fourth in the last three matches. The last time a Grizzly scored in three consecutive matches was Skyleigh Thompson toward the end of the 2023 season.

Seelhoff was assisted by Jen Estes, who leads Montana in scoring with 11 points on four goals and three assists. Seelhoff is tied for fourth in the Big Sky with four goals, Estes ranks third in points.

Bayliss Flynn made two saves to improve to 4-0-2 in her six starts this season with five shutouts.

Flynn is tied for fifth in the national statistics in save percentage (.909) and tied for 21st in goals against average (0.50) and shutouts (5).

Montana will go into Sunday's match without a goal allowed since Sept. 8, the first half at Wyoming, a streak of more than 336 minutes.

Since falling behind the Cowgirls 3-1 in the 24th minute, Montana has outscored Wyoming, North Dakota, Boise State and Northern Arizona by a score of 10-0.

Storylines:

* Montana moves up the regional rankings: The Grizzlies are No. 3 in this week's West Region poll, behind Santa Clara and Pepperdine, teams ranked 10th and 13th in the national poll.

Montana has been ranked in all seven regional polls this season, starting at No. 2, then going 8, 9, 10, 9, 6 and up to 3 this week.

The Grizzlies own a 2-0 win over Boise State, the team ranked No. 3 in the Pacific Region. Montana lost 3-0 at Washington State, No. 4 in the West this week, and 2-1 at Fresno State, No. 8 in the Pacific.

* Griz complete an unbeaten September: Montana went 4-0-2 in the month of September, completing an unbeaten month with Sunday's 2-0 home win over Northern Arizona.

You have to go all the way back to, well, only last October to find Montana's last unbeaten month, when the Grizzlies went 7-0-0.

Seventh-year coach Chris Citowicki's teams have had three unbeaten Septembers or Octobers: September 2024, October 2023 and October 2019.

Former coach Mark Plakorus's teams did it twice (October 2014, October 2012), former coach Betsy Duerksen's teams did it once (September 1996).

* Montana dominant on home field: The Grizzlies are 7-0-0 this season at South Campus Stadium without a goal allowed, with at least three more home matches to go.

Montana will host Idaho and Eastern Washington next week, then get Portland State at South Campus Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 20.

The Grizzlies will get at least one additional home match if they qualify for the six-team Big Sky tournament, which will be held in Missoula from Nov. 6-10.

Montana has won seven or more home matches in a season only three previous times in program history, going 9-1-0 in 1997, 7-2-0 in 1999 and 10-2-0 in 2000.

At a glance (Northern Colorado): The Bears, picked last in the preseason coaches' poll but with a first-place vote, are 4-34-5 over their previous 43 matches, dating back to the 2022 season.

It's been a surprising turn of events for a team that played in the Big Sky tournament title match four times in five seasons between 2015-19 and won championships in 2015 and '19.

The Bears opened this season 0-7-0, getting outscored 18-2, before picking up back-to-back 1-0 victories at Iowa State and at home against South Dakota.

Northern Colorado opened league with a 3-1 win at Weber State on Thursday, scoring three times on its six shots on goal. Three of the Bears' eight goals this season came in a 26-minute stretch against Weber.

UNC followed that with a 1-0 loss at Idaho State on Sunday in an evenly played match as the Bengals snapped a seven-match winless streak.

UNC has been outscored 26-8 this season, the Bears ranking 288th nationally with a 2.00 goals-against average, 303rd with a save percentage of .675.

Senior forward Lauren Woodhull leads Northern Colorado with two goals. Junior Kaya Lindberg, who has a 1.69 goals-against average, has made 10 starts in goal.

Legendary coach Tim Barrera has been leading the Bears since 1999, taking the program from NCAA Division II to Division I and on to becoming one of the Big Sky's winningest programs.

UNC averaged 10 wins per (full) season from 2010 to '21 and advanced to 11 of 12 Big Sky tournaments, hosting in 2011, '19, '21 and '22.

Series history: Northern Colorado leads the all-time series against Montana 9-8-5, going 6-2-3 against the Grizzlies in Greeley.

Montana has won the teams' last two matchups, with the Grizzlies owning a 4-3-1 record against the Bears under seventh-year coach Chris Citowicki.

Montana won 3-1 at Greeley last season, its first win in Greeley since 2009, the Grizzlies getting goals from Maddie Ditta, Abby Gearhart and Skyleigh Thompson against Lindberg.

The win was the first by multiple goals for Montana over Northern Colorado in their history, the first by multiple goals for either team in the series since 2013.

Match notes:

* Big Sky RPIs: Montana (95), Idaho (158), Eastern Washington (215), Portland State (233), Idaho State (234), Weber State (271), Northern Arizona (275), Northern Colorado (285), Sacramento State (291).

The Grizzlies ended last season with an RPI of 96.

* Seventh-year coach Chris Citowicki picked up win No. 63 on Sunday. He is three wins from becoming the second-winningest coach in program history.

* Montana is tied for fifth nationally with eight shutouts, ranks 32nd in save percentage (.843) and is tied for 44th in goals-against average (0.73).

* Montana's two leading scorers are first-year transfers. Jen Estes, who has 11 points, previously played at Princeton. Chloe Seelhoff, who has eight points, previously played at Washington.

* Freshman Carly Whalen has an assist in three consecutive matches. It's the first time that's happened since Mackenzie Akins pulled it off in three straight matches early in the 2013 season.

* Idaho leads the Big Sky with six points. The Vandals, who are 8-3-1 overall and have only lost to regionally ranked teams, won 2-0 over Sacramento State and 3-0 over Portland State last week at home.

* Eastern Washington is in second with four points. The Eagles last week tied at home against Portland State before defeating Sacramento State 3-0.

* Montana, Idaho State and Northern Colorado are tied for third with three points.

* Thursday Big Sky matches: NAU at UNC

* Friday Big Sky matches: WSU at PSU, ISU at SAC

* Sunday Big Sky matches: UM at UNC, UI at EWU, ISU at PSU, WSU at SAC

Upcoming: A pair of important home matches as Montana hosts current first-place Idaho and second-place Eastern Washington at South Campus Stadium next Thursday and Sunday.

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Players Mentioned

Maddie Ditta

Jen Estes

Bayliss Flynn

Abby Gearhart

Chloe Seelhoff

Skyleigh Thompson

Carly Whalen

University of Montana Athletics