Offseason reminders of a fall full of memories

The package arrived at the Montana soccer offices recently. The coaches, in the back of their minds, knew it was going to show up one day. They'd remember, then they'd forget about it, remember, then forget about it. Now, a bit of Christmas in late February.

The return address was from the NCAA. Ahh, they knew what this was. Finally. They opened the box, removed the plaques and were reminded, just as they get into the heart of their offseason training and preparation for the upcoming fall, just how great of a season they had just a few months ago.

The plaques were for statistical champions, and the Grizzlies had two, remarkable given there are 339 teams that play Division I soccer.

Out of all those teams, Montana led the country in shutout percentage. Fourteen clean sheets in 19 matches, nearly three out of four. The next four teams in that statistical ranking: Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Georgetown, UCLA. The next highest team from the Big Sky: tied for 90th.

"These are not easy to get, that's the important thing to remember," said coach Chris Citowicki, whose team led the nation last year in save percentage (.903). Montana, in its three-plus-decade history, has had nine seasons with 10 or more shutouts. Four of those have come under Citowicki.

"We always build around defense first. That's where my brain goes. If you're not getting scored on, you have a chance to win games, then everything else works off of that. That fact that in back-to-back years we're seeing awards, not only on a team level but now an individual level, I think it's remarkable."

The individual award for the 2024 season fits in with the team honor like Bayliss Flynn's hand in a goalkeeper's glove. In 14 starts, she made 62 saves while allowing five goals, good for a nation-leading save percentage of .925. Next closest: .900.

While that's a good enough story, it's not the best of Flynn's tales from the fall. If anyone from Montana was going to lead the country in a goalkeeper statistic last season it was going to be Ashlyn Dvorak, right? After all, she went 13-3-3 in 2023 with 11 shutouts and nine goals allowed.

And she opened last fall as the team's GK1, starting the season's first five matches, posting three more shutouts. But then she injured her hand at Fresno State, one that would end her season, and Flynn, who had zero minutes of on-field experience, had two days to prepare for her first start as a Grizzly.

She promptly shut out IU Indianapolis, then a few days later showed her best stuff, facing 28 shots from high-flying Air Force on a Thursday night, under the lights in Colorado Springs, making nine saves and allowing the Grizzlies to come away with a 0-0 draw.

Two matches, two shutouts. Yep, the Grizzlies were going to be just fine. New keeper but still in the best of hands.

"It was a remarkable year for Bayliss to do what she did. It speaks to the professional that she is and the circumstances where she had to step in and play," said Citowicki, whose team allowed two goals in eight league matches as the Grizzlies won their second consecutive Big Sky Conference championship.

"It wasn't like we were prepping. Nobody was prepping. We come back from Fresno and she's thrown into the deep end. Next thing you know, she's No. 1 in the nation in save percentage. That's amazing."

Montana gave up a first-half goal to Eastern Washington on Oct. 13, then finished the year with five more shutouts, ending the season on a shutout streak of more than 536 minutes.

"I'm proud of everyone but we're to the point now where we just expect things like this," said Citowicki, whose entire tenure with the Grizzlies has been based on changing expectations, raising them, having people outside the program asking themselves, Wait, they're doing that at Montana?

"It shows how good we are at keeping the ball out of the back of the net. That's just what we expect to do."

One NCAA statistical champion in 2023, plus a Big Sky Conference championship? Two NCAA statistical champions in 2024, plus a Big Sky Conference championship? Makes you wonder what the Grizzlies have in store for 2025. And can the season just get here already?

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Ashlyn Dvorak

Bayliss Flynn

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