Montana enters back half of league schedule

The Montana soccer team will open a three-match home stand this week with games against Weber State and Idaho State at South Campus Stadium in Missoula.

The Grizzlies (7-3-3, 1-1-2 BSC) will face the Wildcats (8-5-0, 2-1-0 BSC) on Thursday at 3 p.m., the Bengals (4-5-3, 1-1-1 BSC) at noon on Sunday.

Montana will host Sacramento State on Sunday, Oct. 19, before wrapping up its regular-season schedule with a match at Portland State on Thursday, Oct. 23.

The Big Sky Conference Championship will be held in Missoula early next month, with quarterfinals on Wednesday, Nov. 5, semifinals on Friday, Nov. 7, and the title match on Sunday, Nov. 9.

Coverage: All three matches of Montana's home stand will stream on ESPN+ with Ace Sauerwein calling the action.

What's at stake: It's two weeks into the five-week Big Sky soccer schedule and the standings have little separation from first place to last.

All nine teams have either one or two league wins, with only four points separating first-place Sacramento State and last-place Northern Colorado with teams having played three or four matches.

After opening league with three road matches in their first four games, the Grizzlies get three of four at home in the back half. Montana is 20-1-3 in its last 24 matches at South Campus Stadium.

Montana is tied for third behind Sacramento State and Weber State, with the Grizzlies hosting both teams in the next two weeks.

The Hornets play three of their last four league matches on the road. The Wildcats built their early Big Sky record at home and now have to close with four of five on the road.

The top six teams at regular season's end make the Big Sky tournament, the top two a bye to the semifinal round.

Match notes:

* Thursday's match is the latest installment of the original Big Sky soccer rivalry, Montana and Weber State finishing first or second the first three years the league sponsored soccer, from 1997-99.

Montana has won 10 regular-season championships, Weber State six. The Grizzlies have won seven Big Sky tournament titles, the Wildcats four.

* Idaho State has its own proud history, though it hasn't won either championship since 2012. The Bengals own three regular-season championships, five tournament titles.

* Montana is 20-1-3 at South Campus Stadium over its last 24 home matches, the lone loss coming earlier this season against Baylor, which is now 9-1-2 and ranked No. 14 in the nation.

* The Grizzlies are 18-4-9 at home against Big Sky opponents under eighth-year coach Chris Citowicki and on a 10-match unbeaten streak.

Of those four losses, two came in overtime, the others by 2-1 and 1-0 margins. The last Big Sky team to defeat Montana in Missoula was Northern Arizona, 2-1 in 2022.

* The Grizzlies have not lost at home to Idaho State since 2014, to Weber State since 2010. … The Wildcats have four road wins this season, most in the Big Sky.

* Montana enters its home stand on a three-match unbeaten streak. After opening league with a 2-1 loss at Northern Arizona, the Grizzlies defeated Northern Colorado 2-0 at home.

Last week Montana went on the road and picked up a pair of draws, playing to a 1-1 tie at Eastern Washington, a 0-0 draw at Idaho.

* Montana is 40-9-14 in regular-season Big Sky matches under Citowicki, 47-12-15 against the league including the postseason.

* Thursday's match pits the Big Sky's top two programs according to the latest NCAA RPI, which has Weber State at 141, Montana at 151.

The rest of the league is well behind: Idaho (222), Northern Arizona (245), Sacramento State (254), Eastern Washington (260), Idaho State (263), Northern Colorado (268), Portland State (300).

* Montana and Weber State lead the Big Sky in goals scored with 22. The Wildcats have allowed 18, the Grizzlies a league-low nine.

* After posting a pair of draws on the road last week, Montana held steady at No. 9 in this week's United Soccer Coaches West Region poll.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies extended their unbeaten streak to three matches last week, playing to draws at Eastern Washington and Idaho.

In Thursday's 1-1 draw in Cheney, Montana fell behind 1-0 in the eighth minute before scoring the equalizer in the 40th. The teams played a scoreless second half.

Of Montana's nine goals allowed this season, eight have come in the first half, five of those eight in the opening 10 minutes. The Grizzlies have outscored their opponents 12-1 in the second half.

The equalizer against the Eagles came off the foot of Chloe Seelhoff, her team-leading seventh goal of the season.

Seelhoff leads the Big Sky in points and is tied for the league lead in goals with Eastern Washington's Delani Walker. Seelhoff is tied for third in the Big Sky with four assists.

With one more goal, Seelhoff will have the most by a Grizzly since Erin Craig scored 10 in 2011.

Thursday's result was the fourth consecutive draw between Montana and Eastern Washington.

Sunday's 0-0 draw in Moscow was only the second time Montana has been shut out this season, Idaho matching Baylor in keeping the Grizzlies off the scoreboard.

The shutout was Ashlyn Dvorak's 19th of her career. Her next clean sheet will move her up to third in program history.

Dvorak leads the Big Sky in goals-against average (0.64), is tied for second with five shutouts and ranks fourth in save percentage (.821).

At a glance (Weber State): The Wildcats, who went 3-22-10 in 2023 and '24, have experienced a resurgence under first-year coach Kyle Christensen, who spent the last 10 years on staff at Utah Valley.

Christensen played at Denver and as an assistant coach helped Utah Valley make four NCAA tournament appearances and win four WAC regular-season championships and three WAC tournament titles.

Sparking Weber State's success has been a balanced offensive attack that has seven multiple-goal scorers, six players having scored either three or four goals.

The team's top three point-producers are all seniors. Of the other three players with three or more goals, two are transfers from a very good Utah State program.

The seven players who have scored multiple times this season are all upperclassmen, five seniors and two juniors.

Freshman Lauren Butorac is Weber State's starting goalkeeper. She is 7-4-0 with a 0.97 goals-against average and .804 save percentage.

Weber State was picked sixth in the preseason poll and opened the season with a 4-0 loss at Oregon in its first game under Christensen.

The Wildcats trailed 2-0 at the half at Oregon State in their next game before scoring three second-half goals to knock off the Beavers 3-2.

They've been mostly winning ever since, their tight losses 1-0 at Nebraska, 2-1 at Utah State and 4-3 at home against Utah Valley after building a 3-1 second-half lead on the Wolverines.

Weber State opened league with home wins over Eastern Washington, 2-1, and Idaho, 3-1, before falling at home in a surprising 1-0 result to Portland State.

The Vikings entered the match without a Division I win this season but went up 1-0 in the 11th minute and held on, despite getting outshot 20-5 and putting only three shots on goal.

Series history: Montana leads the series with Weber State 20-14-3 and has gone 13-3-1 against the Wildcats in Missoula.

Montana has won two straight over Weber State and is 8-2-1 against the Wildcats since 2015. Citowicki is 6-2-0 against Weber State.

The Grizzlies have won six straight over the Wildcats in Missoula, holding them to two goals. Weber State's last win over Montana in Missoula came in 2010.

At a glance (Idaho State): The Bengals were picked a near-unanimous last in the preseason poll but had the Big Sky's best start to the season, going unbeaten through its first four matches.

That success came late, ISU scoring in the 90th minute to earn 1-1 draws against Boise State and Oregon State.

A four-match losing streak followed but the Bengals, who host Sacramento State on Thursday, have gone 2-1-1 since, a stretch that started with a 2-0 win at UNLV.

Idaho State opened league with a 0-0 home draw against Idaho, then lost 2-0 at Eastern Washington. On Sunday, ISU scored in the 88th minute to win 1-0 at home over Portland State.

After scoring nine goals through their first six matches, the Bengals have scored only three in their last six, two of those coming at UNLV. ISU has been shut out four times in its last six matches.

Senior Mary Za and sophomore Talia Coury both have scored three goals this season. Freshman Hannah Wieler has played all but 15 minutes in goal for Idaho State. She has a 1.10 goals-against average.

The Bengals played in the Big Sky championship match in 2014 in Missoula. They have made the Big Sky tournament just once since, in 2023, losing 4-1 in the quarterfinals.

ISU coach Dustin Downey is in his fourth year.

Series history: Montana leads the series with Idaho State 18-8-4 and has gone 12-2-1 in Missoula against the Bengals.

The Grizzlies have won six straight over ISU and are 11-2-3 against Idaho State since 2010.

Montana has won four straight at home over Idaho State, with the Bengals' lone wins in Missoula coming in 2014 and 2006.

Citowicki is 6-0-0 against Idaho State.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* The top two teams in the Big Sky standings, Sacramento State and Weber State, have had the most beneficial schedules to date, playing six of their combined seven league matches at home.

* Montana is tied for third with Idaho, both with 1-1-2 records. Northern Arizona and Idaho State trail with 1-1-1 records.

* Thursday's schedule: WSU at UM, SAC at ISU, NAU at PSU

* Sunday's schedule: ISU at UM, PSU at UNC, SAC at WSU, EWU at UI

Upcoming: It'll be Senior Day when Montana hosts Sacramento State at South Campus Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 19.

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Players Mentioned

Ashlyn Dvorak

Chloe Seelhoff

University of Montana Athletics