Montana draws Washington in NCAA first round

The champions of the Big Sky Conference will face the champions of the Big Ten Conference on Friday night in Seattle when Montana takes on Washington in the opening round of the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship.

The teams, meeting for the first time since 2009 and in the NCAA Tournament for the second time, will kick off at 8 p.m. (MT) at Washington's Husky Soccer Stadium.

Montana (11-3-5) won its third consecutive regular-season Big Sky championship this season, then doubled up with a tournament title over the weekend in Missoula, advancing past Idaho in a shootout in Friday's semifinals before topping Weber State on Sunday, also in a shootout.

Sunday's championship match drew a record crowd of 2,227 to South Campus Stadium as the Grizzlies won their eighth Big Sky tournament to advance to their seventh NCAA Tournament in program history, their first since 2021.

Picked ninth in the Big Ten preseason poll, the Huskies (13-2-6) won the league's regular-season title, going 8-1-2.

Washington claimed the Big Ten tournament championship as well, winning 2-0 over Illinois in the quarterfinals, 2-1 over No. 15 Wisconsin in the semifinals and playing No. 9 Michigan State to a 1-1 draw on Sunday in the title match in St. Louis. The Huskies won the shootout 4-1.

All three of Washington's Big Ten tournament opponents made this year's NCAA field.

Washington is a No. 4 seed in the teams' quadrant of the bracket, with Virginia No. 1, Duke No. 2 and Kansas No. 3.

The winner of Friday's match will advance to face either No. 5 Arkansas or Dartmouth in the second round. Those teams meet in Fayetteville on Friday night.

Montana will be playing in its seventh NCAA Tournament, four of those appearances coming under eighth-year coach Chris Citowicki. The Grizzlies' most recent appearance came in 2021, a 3-0 first-round loss at Washington State.

Montana faced Washington in the 2000 NCAA Tournament. After defeating Washington State in the first round, the Grizzlies traveled to Seattle and lost 5-0 to the Huskies in the second round with Washington goalkeeper Hope Solo earning the shutout.

Washington will be playing in its second consecutive NCAA Tournament, its 18th overall.

Last season the Huskies traveled to Utah State for a first-round match and advanced through a scoreless draw with the Aggies with a 3-1 shootout victory. Washington lost at Mississippi State 1-0 in the second round.

Montana and Washington have three common opponents this season. The Huskies defeated Idaho 4-0, played Seattle to a 1-1 draw and won 1-0 at Gonzaga.

The Grizzlies played to a pair of draws against Idaho, 0-0 in Moscow and 2-2 in Missoula on Friday, also played Seattle to a 1-1 draw and defeated Gonzaga 4-0 in Missoula.

Montana hasn't lost since Sept. 26. Washington, which went 5-0-1 against ranked teams this season, dropped its regular-season finale 2-1 at three-win Oregon before winning the Big Ten tournament.

University of Montana Athletics

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