Trophy hunters: Griz begin their championship quest

The Montana soccer team, two wins away from the NCAA tournament, will begin its pursuit of a postseason title on Friday when the Grizzlies play in the second semifinal match of the Big Sky Conference Championship, being held at South Campus Stadium in Missoula.

Montana, the No. 1 seed after completing its second consecutive unbeaten run through league, will face either No. 4 Northern Arizona or No. 5 Sacramento State at 2 p.m. at the field where the Grizzlies are 9-0-1 this season and unbeaten in their last 15 matches.

The tournament, the first hosted in Missoula since 2014, opens on Wednesday with two quarterfinal matches. Sunday's championship match will kick off at 1 p.m.

The schedule:

Wednesday, 11 a.m. – No. 3 Eastern Washington vs. No. 6 Portland State
Wednesday, 2 p.m. – No. 4 Northern Arizona vs. No. 5 Sacramento State
Friday, 11 a.m. – No. 2 Idaho vs. EWU-PSU winner
Friday, 2 p.m. – No. 1 Montana vs. NAU-SAC winner
Sunday, 1 p.m. – Championship match

In their regular-season meetings, Eastern Washington and Portland State played to a 1-1 draw in Cheney in late September and Northern Arizona and Sacramento State played to a 1-1 draw last month in Flagstaff.

Coverage: All five games of the tournament will be streamed on ESPN+.

The seeds:

1. Montana (12-2-4, 6-0-2): The Grizzlies went unbeaten through league for the second consecutive season, the first time that's been done in Big Sky history. Montana has lost only twice this season and went unbeaten in September and October. Its regular-season title was the 10th in program history.

2. Idaho (11-5-2, 5-2-1): Last year's tournament champions dropped a pair of road matches in league, losing 2-1 at Montana and 1-0 at Northern Colorado in its regular-season finale. The Vandals finished second in the regular season for the third consecutive season.

3. Eastern Washington (9-5-4, 4-1-3): The Eagles were picked for an eighth-place finish in the Big Sky preseason poll but lost only once in league, 1-0 at Northern Arizona. Playing in its first Big Sky tournament since 2019, Eastern Washington enters the postseason on a three-match winning streak.

4. Northern Arizona (4-7-5, 4-3-1): The Lumberjacks were winless on the season going into October but went 4-2-1 after opening league with a 2-0 loss at Montana to play their way into the tournament. NAU is making its 19th tournament appearance, second only to Montana's 23.

5. Sacramento State (5-6-6, 3-2-3): After opening league with 2-0 and 3-0 losses at Idaho and Eastern Washington, the Hornets have not lost a match, closing 3-0-3, allowing only three goals in those six matches. Sacramento State is trying to win its first Big Sky tournament since 2010.

6. Portland State (4-8-4, 2-3-3): The Vikings are making their 16th Big Sky tournament appearance and are the only league team without a championship. Portland State went 3-1-4 over an eight-match stretch in the back half of the season but closed with 1-0 losses to Montana and Sacramento State.

In the NCAA RPI, Montana is 106, Idaho is 150, Eastern Washington is 182, Portland State is 262, Sacramento State is 268 and Northern Arizona is 277.

The holy grail: Sunday's winner will advance to the NCAA tournament. The Big Sky champion has not advanced in the NCAA tournament since 2005, when Weber State got by BYU in penalty kicks. The Big Sky champion has not won a match since 2000, when Montana won 1-0 at Washington State.

That result is still the only victory for the Big Sky in the NCAA tournament in league history.

The trouble with hosting: Since 2008, over the span of 16 Big Sky tournaments, the host school has won the championship only four times, Idaho State in 2012, Eastern Washington in 2016 and '17, and Northern Colorado in 2019.

Montana's tournament bona fides: The Grizzlies are making their 23rd appearance at the Big Sky tournament, their 11th straight. Montana has failed to make the tournament only five times, in 2005, '07, '09, '10 and '13.

The Grizzlies have an all-time tournament record of 18-13-4 with a league-high seven titles, coming in 1997, '99, 2000, '11, '18, '20 and '21.

This is the fifth time the tournament has been hosted in Missoula, with the Grizzlies going 6-0-0 at South Campus Stadium to claim championships in 1997, '99 and 2000, outscoring those six opponents 17-2.

When Montana last hosted, in 2014, the No. 1 Grizzlies lost 2-1 to No. 5 Idaho State in the semifinals, building a 1-0 lead in the first half before allowing the Bengals to sneak away with the victory with goals in the 73rd and 77th minutes.

Citowicki one title from history: Four legendary coaches from Big Sky soccer history led their teams to three tournament titles: Montana's Betsy Duerksen, Idaho State's Gordon Henderson, Weber State's Tim Crompton and Northern Arizona's Andre Luciano. None reached four.

Citowicki goes into this year's tournament with three of his own, one championship from being the only coach in Big Sky history with four.

Citowicki has led Montana to seven Big Sky championships in his seven years, four regular season and three tournament.

He has guided the Grizzlies to 12 wins this season after winning 13 times last year. It's the first time in more than two decades that Montana has won 10 or more games in back-to-back seasons.

Success at home: Montana is 9-0-1 at home this season and is 14-0-1 at South Campus Stadium dating back to last season. The Grizzlies' last loss at home was 1-0 against Georgia Southern on Sept. 10, 2023.

Montana is 145-67-32 (.660) all-time at home. The Grizzlies are 34-10-14 (.707) at home under seventh-year coach Chris Citowicki.

Montana's record for home wins in a season is 10, set by the 2000 team that went 10-0-2 at South Campus Stadium.

Citowicki vs. the Big Sky: Montana has gone 39-8-12 (.763) against the Big Sky, 13-0-3 the last two seasons, during the regular season under seventh-year coach Chris Citowicki. Including the tournament, the Grizzlies are 46-11-12 (.754) against the Big Sky under Citowicki.

Montana in the rankings: The Grizzlies were ranked in the West Region by the United Soccer Coaches all 11 weeks of the regular season this fall. Montana was No. 4 in the final poll of the regular season, behind Santa Clara, Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount.

Boise State, which Montana defeated 2-0 in Missoula in September, ended the regular season No. 2 in the Pacific Region. The Broncos went 15-3-2 during the regular season and won the Mountain West Conference with an 8-1-2 league record. Boise's only losses came against BYU, Montana and Utah State.

Montana locks down with historic defense effort: The Grizzlies went 13-3-3 last season and established a new Big Sky record with a mere nine goals allowed. Montana posted 11 shutouts and led the NCAA in save percentage (.903).

The Grizzlies got off to a relatively slow defensive start in 2024, allowing three goals at Washington State, two at Fresno State, both results ending in losses back in August, and three in a 3-3 draw at Wyoming, with the Cowgirls scoring three goals less than eight minutes apart in the first half.

In the eight matches since then, the Grizzlies have allowed only two goals with six shutouts. The team's 13 shutouts have set a new program record, surpassing the 12 posted by four previous Montana teams: 1996, '97, 2000 and '12.

The Grizzlies enter the Big Sky tournament ranked fourth nationally in save percentage (.881), tied for fifth in shutouts (13) and tied for 10th in goals-against average (0.56).

With 10 goals allowed this season, Montana will have two of the best defensive campaigns in Big Sky history at season's end. (Prior to last season, Northern Arizona's 12 goals allowed in 2018 and Weber State's 12 allowed in 1998 were the gold standard.)

Montana enters this year's tournament without a goal allowed in more than 426 minutes, since the first half of the Grizzlies' 1-1 home draw with Eastern Washington.

Montana's shutdown defense under Citowicki: In 129 games under seventh-year coach Chris Citowicki, the Grizzlies have recorded 68 shutouts, blanking their opponent more than half the time (.527). Montana has allowed one goal or no goals 105 times in 129 matches under Citowicki (.814).

Charley Boone, Ironwoman: Montana's senior center back has played 3,300 of a possible 3,330 minutes the last two seasons. The 30 minutes she has been on the sideline all came last season in three matches the Grizzlies won by three or more goals.

Quick-strike Grizzlies: Montana has scored this season in the opening 10 minutes of a match eight times. In the previous six seasons under Citowicki, the Grizzlies pulled that off 10 times.

Griz collect multiple Big Sky honors: Montana took home multiple awards from the Big Sky Conference this week.

Bayliss Flynn was named the Goalkeeper of the Year, Jen Estes the unanimous Newcomer of the Year and Estes the co-Offensive MVP, the eighth time Montana has won that award, the second straight after Skyleigh Thompson won it a year ago.

Flynn becomes Montana's fourth Goalkeeper of the Year since 2016. The Grizzlies have had the first-team All-Big Sky goalkeeper four of the last five seasons.

Flynn and Estes also were named first-team All-Big Sky, as were Charley Boone, Ava Samuelson and Maddie Ditta.

Montana also had five first-team selections in 2023. It's the first time in program history five Grizzlies have been so honored in consecutive seasons.

Samuelson was voted All-Big Sky for the third time, earning second-team honors as a sophomore, first-team accolades the last two seasons. Boone also was voted first-team All-Big Sky the last two seasons. Ditta was second-team as a sophomore, first-team this season.

Chloe Seelhoff was voted second-team, freshman Carly Whalen made honorable mention.

In the stats: Bayliss Flynn began the season behind Ashlyn Dvorak, who was all-region last year and started the first five matches this fall. Then Dvorak was injured at Fresno State, which opened the door for Flynn.

In 13 starts, the first minutes of her collegiate career, Flynn has gone 9-0-4 with 10 shutouts. Her .919 save percentage leads the nation, her 0.38 goals-against average ranks sixth. She is tied for 11th in the nation in shutouts, four off the national lead, despite sitting the season's first five matches.

In the Big Sky stats, Jen Estes ranks second in goals (7), Chloe Seelhoff ranks third (6). Estes is tied for fifth in assists (4) and ranks second in points (18).

Maddie Ditta, whose eight career goals have all been game-winners, leads the Big Sky in that category this season with four. Estes ranks second with three.

Citowicki moves up Montana ladder: Seventh-year coach Chris Citowicki last month became the second-winningest coach in program history. He has a record at Montana of 68-35-26, now behind only program founder and Grizzly Sports Hall of Famer Betsy Duerksen, who went 117-69-7 from 1994-2003.

Upcoming: The NCAA tournament or the offseason.

Trophy hunters: Griz begin their championship quest

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Players Mentioned

Charley Boone

Maddie Ditta

Ashlyn Dvorak

Jen Estes

Bayliss Flynn

Ava Samuelson

Chloe Seelhoff

Skyleigh Thompson

Carly Whalen

University of Montana Athletics