Griz pull out 1-0 road win

Sunday, October 6

Greeley, Colo.

Noon

Montana

8-2-2, 2-0-0BSC

Northern Colorado

3-12-0, 1-3-0BSC

Montana

Northern Colorado

Photo by: Ryan Brennecke/ University of Mo

10/6/2024 3:36:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

It's on an afternoon when the beautiful game is anything but that a team's championship pedigree can shine through and get the job done.

That was the case for the Montana soccer team on Sunday at Jackson Stadium in Greeley, engaged in a rock fight against Northern Colorado, the match scoreless well into the second half.

But a play designed in the halftime locker room led to a corner kick, which led to the perfect execution of that corner kick, which led to the ball at the feet of Kayla Rendon Bushmaker in front of goal

And that's when a team's persistence and determination can pay off. Rendon Bushmaker, using her off foot, sent a ball across traffic and into the right side of the goal in the 73rd minute for the game-winner.

That, and some top-level goalkeeping by Bayliss Flynn, who is getting more comfortable and more confident by the save and by the match, was enough to post a 1-0 road win over the Bears.

"Even though it was not as clean as we normally are and it was not as pretty as it normally is, all you need is one moment in this game," said coach Chris Citowicki, whose team is unbeaten since August.

"For us to have the maturity and, I believe, the credentials to compete for a title, we showed that today. Everything can be going against us and we'll still find a way to win. That's exactly what we did."

The spotlight will shine brightest on Rendon Bushmaker but it was Flynn who got her team to a scoreless draw in the second half, after several quality scoring chances for the Grizzlies early on came up empty.

In the first half, it was Flynn handling set pieces, gobbling up free kicks before they could become dangerous.

In the second half, she was tested more directly in front of goal, one save off a dive to her right, another on a ball that was rolling toward goal behind her. She dove atop it inches before it crossed the line.

Flynn now has six shutouts in seven starts this season, a 5-0-2 record and a .919 save percentage after making four saves.

"It was one of those Big Sky games on the road. We put ourselves in some tough spots but she cleaned it up," said Citowicki, whose team has outscored its last four opponents 9-0.

"(The ball she stopped short of the goal) is the kind of save that gets a team in a spot to compete for a title."

After Montana controlled play for the first part of the first half, the Bears, 6-2-3 all-time at home against the Grizzlies entering the match, began to settle and tip the field in their favor.

"Northern Colorado was great today. They were organized, they fought and they believed," said Citowicki. "It was a very good performance from them.

"Halftime definitely helped us. We're lucky it came along for us when it did. They could have gotten us right at the end of the first half."

As the game went deeper and deeper into the second half, the tenseness got tighter and tighter, giving it a November feel, a playoff vibe, a winner-take-all type of match.

That's when Montana played the ball toward the end line, which resulted in a corner kick.

That's when the Grizzlies went short, Carly Whalen touching the ball to Jen Estes, who expertly played it back to Whalen, who crossed a ball that was punched out by Northern Colorado's goalkeeper.

The ball made its way to Rendon Bushmaker, who scored her second goal of the season, both coming off her left foot, when she hooked the ball through traffic and into the net.

"Not all games are going to be pretty. When they aren't pretty, you better find a way to win," said Citowicki, who program is 9-0-1 in its last 10 league matches.

"That was the other conversation in the locker room. Try to execute. We're probably going to get it wrong nine times out of 10 but all we need is one goal to win this thing. It was done to perfection."

The goal was Rendon Bushmaker's third of her career, her second game-winner. "The goal was exactly how we drew it up. That's why you have players like Kayla," said Citowicki.

"The cross was bobbled around and Kayla does what Kayla does every day in practice. I don't think there has been a single practice when she hasn't scored a goal like that this year."

From that point on, Montana played keep-away the final 17 minutes, holding Northern Colorado without a shot as the Bears looked to tie it.

The Grizzlies (8-2-2, 2-0-0 BSC) will host Idaho on Thursday and Eastern Washington on Sunday at South Campus Stadium.