Griz playing for Big Sky championship

The Montana soccer team has another Big Sky Conference championship in its sights and within reach, but for the Grizzlies to win their second consecutive title, their fourth in the last six years and 10th overall, they'll need to come through on the road.

Montana (10-2-4, 4-0-2 BSC) will wrap up its regular-season schedule this week with matches at Idaho State (2-8-5, 1-4-1 BSC) and at Weber State (2-11-5, 1-4-1 BSC).

The Grizzlies and Bengals will kick off at 4 p.m. on Friday in Pocatello at ISU's Davis Field. Sunday's match against Weber State will start at 1 p.m. at Wildcat Soccer Field in Ogden.

What's at stake: Montana is in second place in the Big Sky standings behind Idaho (11-4-2, 5-1-1 BSC). The Vandals have only one match remaining, at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Northern Colorado (3-13-1, 1-4-1 BSC).

If Montana wins twice this week, the Grizzlies will move ahead of Idaho, claim the regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed at next month's Big Sky tournament in Missoula, and secure hosting rights to the 2025 tournament.

If the Grizzlies do not win twice, Idaho will be in control of those same outcomes. Montana can finish no lower than third place, with Eastern Washington (8-5-4, 3-1-3 BSC) still in the mix to move up to second with a win on Thursday at Northern Colorado and two Montana losses.

The Grizzlies have won only once in their last seven road matches dating back to last season, going 1-3-3. That lone win was earlier this month, a 1-0 victory at Northern Colorado.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies picked up four points last week, playing to a 0-0 draw at Sacramento State on Friday, despite out-shooting the Hornets 22-8, 11-3 in the second half, then returning home for an emotional 1-0 victory over Portland State on Senior Day.

In Friday's scoreless tie at Sacramento State, Montana took 22 shots but put only five on goal. Hornet goalkeeper Izzy Palmatier saved all five to collect the shutout. Bayliss Flynn made two saves to earn her own shutout.

The draw kept Montana unbeaten against Sacramento State over the teams' last 13 meetings (10-0-3)

On Sunday at home against a surging Portland State team that won at Northern Arizona on Friday night, Montana broke the tenseness of a scoreless game that it had to win to keep pace with Idaho by going up 1-0 in the 84th minute.

Maddie Ditta scored from 20 yards out in front of goal, her third goal of the season, the seventh of her career. All seven of Ditta's career goals have been game-winners.

Ditta was assisted by Jen Estes, who now leads Montana in both goals (6) and assists (4), and ranks third in the Big Sky in points (16).

Flynn made three saves to improve to 7-0-4 as a starter. She ranks third nationally in save percentage (.904), eighth in goals-against average (0.46) and is tied for 18th with eight shutouts.

At a glance (Idaho State): The Bengals opened league with a 1-0 home win over Northern Colorado on Sept. 29 but have gone 0-4-1 since then, getting outscored 12-2.

Facing Eastern Washington at home and Idaho on the road last week, Idaho State lost 2-0 and 4-0, respectively, getting out-shot 48-19.

The Bengals opened the season with a flourish, playing to a 0-0 draw at Colorado State and winning 1-0 at Denver. Both of those teams are currently regionally ranked by the United Soccer Coaches, Denver No. 6 in the West, Colorado State No. 6 in the Pacific.

Idaho State's only victory since winning at Denver on Aug. 18 was the Bengals' home win over Northern Colorado.

ISU, picked seventh in the preseason poll, is 1-2-2 at home this season. The Bengals have scored nine goals through 15 matches while allowing 24. Idaho State's six shutouts this season rank third in the Big Sky behind Montana (11) and Idaho (7).

Freshman Paige Harris and sophomore Payton Reed have combined to score five of ISU's nine goals this season. Redshirt freshman Trinity Hale has started all 15 matches in goal. She has six shutouts with a 1.57 goals-against average and .778 save percentage.

Series history: Montana holds a 17-8-4 record against Idaho State and has gone 5-4-3 against the Bengals in Pocatello.

The Grizzlies have won five straight over the Bengals and seven of the teams' last eight match-ups. Montana has won two in a row in Pocatello, winning 2-1 in 2022 and 1-0 in 2018.

The Grizzlies are 5-0-0 against Idaho State under coach Chris Citowicki, with three goals allowed.

At a glance (Weber State): Like Idaho State, the Wildcats have two wins this season, one out of league and one in league, a 2-1 home win over the Bengals.

WSU's non-league win was a quality one, a 4-2 victory at North Dakota State, the only home loss this season for a Bison team that is 9-5-3 and atop the Summit League standings at 5-1-1.

It's been the defensive end that has been costly to Weber State. The Wildcats have allowed a Big Sky-high 43 goals this season, 2.39 per match, a figure that ranks 327th nationally out of 339 Division I teams.

Weber State has just one shutout this season, a 0-0 home draw with Wyoming, and has allowed multiple goals in 12 of 18 matches.

In six league matches, the Wildcats have been outscored 12-5. Weber State is 1-2-3 at home this season.

Junior Ali Swensen, with five goals and four assists this season, is the team's top playmaker, though she hasn't scored a goal in more than a month.

Series history: Montana leads the series 19-14-3 but has gone just 4-10-1 against Weber State in Ogden. The Grizzlies are 1-7-1 against the Wildcats in their last eight matches on WSU's home field, including a 2-0 loss to close out the 2022 regular season.

In last year's match-up in Missoula, the Grizzlies won 2-1, with Abby Gearhart and Sydney Haustein scoring the match's first two goals before the Wildcats pulled within one in the 68th minute.

Montana has gone 4-2-0 against Weber State under coach Chris Citowicki, 1-2-0 in Ogden.

Notes:

* Montana is ranked No. 4 in this week's West Region poll by the United Soccer Coaches. The Grizzlies have been regionally ranked every week this season.

* Montana, at 110, continues to hold down the Big Sky's top RPI. The Grizzlies are followed by Idaho (132), Eastern Washington (187), Portland State (241), Idaho State (275), Sacramento State (276), Northern Arizona (277), Weber State (283) and Northern Colorado (320).

* Seventh-year coach Chris Citowicki improved to 66-35-26 at Montana with Sunday's win. Win No. 66 made him the second-winningest coach in program history, now behind only program founder Betsy Duerksen (117-69-7).

* Sunday's win gave Montana a 9-0-1 home record for the season and extended the Grizzlies' unbeaten streak at South Campus Stadium to 15 matches (14-0-1) dating back to last season. Nine wins is tied for the second-most home wins in a season in program history, one off the record.

* The Grizzlies, who will have at least one more home match when they host the Big Sky tournament next month, went unbeaten at home in 2012 (3-0-2), 2017 (6-0-2) and 2019 (4-0-2).

* Montana is unbeaten in its last 14 regular-season Big Sky matches, going 7-0-1 last season and starting 4-0-2 this year. The Grizzlies' last league loss was at Weber State to close out the 2022 regular season.

* Montana is tied for sixth nationally in shutouts (11) and ranks 15th in save percentage (.861) and 22nd in goals-against average (0.63).

* Montana has allowed only five second-half goals since the start of the 2023 season, a stretch of 35 matches.

* Citowicki's teams have a record of 37-8-12 in regular-season Big Sky matches.

* Going into the final week of the regular season, all nine league teams still have a path to next month's six-team Big Sky tournament in Missoula. Only Idaho, Montana and Eastern Washington have clinched spots.

* Thursday schedule: EWU at UNC

* Friday schedule: UM at ISU, NAU at WSU

* Sunday schedule: UM at WSU, NAU at ISU, UI at UNC, SAC at PSU

Upcoming: Montana will host the six-team Big Sky Conference Championship at South Campus Stadium next month.

Quarterfinal matches will be played on Wednesday, Nov. 6, semifinals on Friday, Nov. 8, and the championship match on Sunday, Nov. 10.

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Players Mentioned

Maddie Ditta

Jen Estes

Bayliss Flynn

Abby Gearhart

Sydney Haustein

University of Montana Athletics