Friday, November 14
Seattle, Wash.
8 PM (MT)
Montana
at
Washington
Photo by: Blake Dahlin
Griz fall to Huskies 2-0
11/15/2025 1:38:00 AM | Soccer
When Montana Director of Athletics Kent Haslam found the coach of his women's soccer team on the field following the Grizzlies' 2-0 loss to Washington in the opening round of the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship on Friday night, he told Chris Citowicki, "You belonged on that field. You totally belonged."
Montana (11-4-5) proved that it did but the Huskies (14-2-6), which swept the Big Ten regular-season and tournament championships, had one thing the Grizzlies did not, and that made all the difference. They had Alex Buck on their side.
The Washington sophomore scored in the 11th minute to give the home team a lead it would hold the rest of the night at Husky Soccer Stadium, then added her eighth goal of the season in the final minute of regulation to send Washington to the second round.
Buck, the younger sister of former Griz soccer player and track and field athlete Catie Buck, took eight of the Huskies' 18 shots, put six on goal and scored twice.
"She is such a good player," said Citowicki, whose team lost for the first time since September. "She is a delight to watch. You don't like playing against her but you enjoy watching her.
"She is just special and that entire team is special. That's why they won the Big Ten and will have quite a run (in the tournament) in my opinion."
No. 4 seeded Washington advances to face No. 5 Arkansas on Thursday in Charlottesville, Va. Montana ends its season in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in eight years under Citowicki.
Citowicki knew the biggest challenge his team would face on Friday night would be the opening rush by the Huskies, who were cheered on by a nice crowd of 2,564 and energized by the postseason, under-the-lights vibe.
Montana weathered it for 10 minutes before Buck's goal at 10:07 opened the scoring. Griz goalkeeper Ashlyn Dvorak, who finished with seven saves, her highest total of the season in a 90-minute match, was in position, near the post, but the ball skipped under her hands on the wet grass.
"We knew there was going to be an initial rush of energy we had to get through and sadly their goal came in that rush," said Citowicki. "From that point on, I think the match kind of stabilized itself a little bit."
Still, Montana was not credited with a shot in the first half, meaning something had to change at the break or the Grizzlies would have no chance to mounting a comeback.
"The best way to defend is to attack, so that was my halftime message," said Citowicki. "If you can find the ball and keep the ball, they won't have chances and you'll have chances. It was nice to see those get generated in the second half."
Montana's best chance came on a ball Eliza Benter drove to the end line before crossing it across the face of the goal. A Washington defender cleared it but right to Emma Widmor, who had to play it out of the air in the blink of an eye. Her attempt from 10 yards out went wide left.
Later in the second half, with the match still 1-0, Mia Parkhurst had a free kick from 30 yards out on the left side. She drove one toward goal but Washington goalkeeper Tanner Ijams stepped forward and secured the attempt and left no rebound. It was her only save of the match.
For as much as the first half favored Washington, the second half had more of a 50-50 feel to it in terms of time of possession if not shots.
"It's just really hard when you're pinned in your half of the field and you try to clear it out and it just gets picked up and comes right back at you," Citowicki said of the first half.
"Our issue was the lack of bravery in the outside positions to take someone on and get them pinned. That was address at halftime and fixed quite nicely in the second half."
With Montana pressing late in the match, seeking to create a chance to find the equalizer, that freed Buck up, in the final minute, to make a run that felt like it was nearly end line to end line before she scored. She was the only player who beat Dvorak on Friday night.
"Ashlyn was extremely good in goal," said Citowicki. "Alex can really hit the ball. You have to defend, and if you can't defend her well, Ashlyn had better make the save. She had some big saves and had a presence to her. I thought she played quite well."
The loss puts an end to a season of both highs and lows for Montana, a season defined first by injury and later a resilient team's ability to fight through adversity and still win its third straight outright Big Sky Conference regular-season championship, something no program had ever done before.
Montana (11-4-5) proved that it did but the Huskies (14-2-6), which swept the Big Ten regular-season and tournament championships, had one thing the Grizzlies did not, and that made all the difference. They had Alex Buck on their side.
The Washington sophomore scored in the 11th minute to give the home team a lead it would hold the rest of the night at Husky Soccer Stadium, then added her eighth goal of the season in the final minute of regulation to send Washington to the second round.
Buck, the younger sister of former Griz soccer player and track and field athlete Catie Buck, took eight of the Huskies' 18 shots, put six on goal and scored twice.
"She is such a good player," said Citowicki, whose team lost for the first time since September. "She is a delight to watch. You don't like playing against her but you enjoy watching her.
"She is just special and that entire team is special. That's why they won the Big Ten and will have quite a run (in the tournament) in my opinion."
No. 4 seeded Washington advances to face No. 5 Arkansas on Thursday in Charlottesville, Va. Montana ends its season in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in eight years under Citowicki.
Citowicki knew the biggest challenge his team would face on Friday night would be the opening rush by the Huskies, who were cheered on by a nice crowd of 2,564 and energized by the postseason, under-the-lights vibe.
Montana weathered it for 10 minutes before Buck's goal at 10:07 opened the scoring. Griz goalkeeper Ashlyn Dvorak, who finished with seven saves, her highest total of the season in a 90-minute match, was in position, near the post, but the ball skipped under her hands on the wet grass.
"We knew there was going to be an initial rush of energy we had to get through and sadly their goal came in that rush," said Citowicki. "From that point on, I think the match kind of stabilized itself a little bit."
Still, Montana was not credited with a shot in the first half, meaning something had to change at the break or the Grizzlies would have no chance to mounting a comeback.
"The best way to defend is to attack, so that was my halftime message," said Citowicki. "If you can find the ball and keep the ball, they won't have chances and you'll have chances. It was nice to see those get generated in the second half."
Montana's best chance came on a ball Eliza Benter drove to the end line before crossing it across the face of the goal. A Washington defender cleared it but right to Emma Widmor, who had to play it out of the air in the blink of an eye. Her attempt from 10 yards out went wide left.
Later in the second half, with the match still 1-0, Mia Parkhurst had a free kick from 30 yards out on the left side. She drove one toward goal but Washington goalkeeper Tanner Ijams stepped forward and secured the attempt and left no rebound. It was her only save of the match.
For as much as the first half favored Washington, the second half had more of a 50-50 feel to it in terms of time of possession if not shots.
"It's just really hard when you're pinned in your half of the field and you try to clear it out and it just gets picked up and comes right back at you," Citowicki said of the first half.
"Our issue was the lack of bravery in the outside positions to take someone on and get them pinned. That was address at halftime and fixed quite nicely in the second half."
With Montana pressing late in the match, seeking to create a chance to find the equalizer, that freed Buck up, in the final minute, to make a run that felt like it was nearly end line to end line before she scored. She was the only player who beat Dvorak on Friday night.
"Ashlyn was extremely good in goal," said Citowicki. "Alex can really hit the ball. You have to defend, and if you can't defend her well, Ashlyn had better make the save. She had some big saves and had a presence to her. I thought she played quite well."
The loss puts an end to a season of both highs and lows for Montana, a season defined first by injury and later a resilient team's ability to fight through adversity and still win its third straight outright Big Sky Conference regular-season championship, something no program had ever done before.
Players Mentioned
Montana vs. Weber State - Big Sky Soccer Championship Highlights 11/9/25
Tuesday, November 11
Montana vs E. Washington Highlights
Monday, November 10
Griz Volleyball Press Conference - 11/3/25
Wednesday, November 05
Griz Football Weekly Press Conference 11/3/25
Monday, November 03
