Baylor hands Montana rare home loss

Sunday, August 24

Missoula, Mont.

1:30 PM

Montana

1-1-1

Baylor

1-0-2

Baylor

Montana

8/24/2025 6:24:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

The worst thing that could have happened to Baylor on Thursday on the opening day of the Rumble in the Rockies at South Campus Stadium in Missoula was playing 11-v-10 against Denver after the Pioneers were issued a red card in the 22nd minute.

Over the next 68 frustrating minutes, the Bears tried, tried and tried again to break through against Denver, but the Pioneers, who were mostly in survival mode and playing for a draw, held strong and escaped with a scoreless tie despite Baylor finishing with a 23-5 advantage in shots.

"It's weird how that can change the game, but it did and changed it in a negative way for us," said Baylor coach Michelle Lenard three days later.

The worst thing that could have happened to Montana on Sunday on the final day of the Rumble in the Rockies was, well, see above.

Baylor (1-0-2) attacked from the start against the Grizzlies, scored in the eighth minute, again in the 43rd and put two more first-half shots off the crossbar while holding 61 percent of the possession over the opening 45 minutes.

Those goals would hold up as the Bears picked up their first victory of the season, winning 2-0.

"They were more ready to go today," said Montana coach Chris Citowicki. "They were more ruthless. Every game is a lesson to be learned. They understood what they did wrong in the last game, they fixed it, and they looked much better in this game.

"Their speed of play wasn't that quick on Thursday. They played at a quicker tempo today and were ruthless in front of goal with their set pieces."

The loss meant the end of some impressive streaks for Montana, which entered the game with the nation's second-longest unbeaten streak of 16, which trailed only USC's 19.

It was also Montana's first home loss in nearly two years, when the Grizzlies fell to Georgia Southern in early September 2023. Montana went 15-0-3 at home between that loss and Sunday's.

Both of Baylor's goals on Sunday came off corner kicks, the Bears creating six to Montana's one and scoring on two of those six.

In the eighth minute, Tyler Isgrig took Baylor's first corner of the match and sent it to the far post, where Hallie Augustyn was waiting to head it in.

It put Montana in a 1-0 deficit in the opening minutes for the second time in two matches at the Rumble in the Rockies. The Grizzlies fell behind Seattle 1-0 in the fourth minute on Thursday before pulling out a 1-1 draw with a penalty-kick goal early in the second half.

It wasn't all Baylor in the first half. Montana out-shot the visitors 10-8 over the opening 45 minutes, with the Grizzlies putting some dangerous crosses in front of goal, plus Chloe Seelhoff's shot from distance that hit the crossbar.

The Bears grabbed control of the scoreboard in the 43rd minute when Augustyn headed a corner kick to the far post back to the front of goal, where it ping-ponged around before finding the feet of Alysiah Lockette.

It marked the first time since last Sept. 8 that Montana allowed multiple goals in a match.

If Baylor won the first half, the second was much more back-and-forth.

"There was no giving up," said Citowicki. "It was just a day of finding solutions, and I think we did that. It forced us to move the ball quicker and allow people to show in the right spots so we could create the right looks.

"We got exposed on set pieces, but we continued finding solutions and creating chances, and that's not something we've always been able to do against teams of this caliber. That is the biggest plus that comes out of this. I was pleased with the looks we got."

Montana out-shot Baylor in both halves and 15-11 for the match, though the Bears put seven shots on goal to the Grizzlies' four, two of Baylor's shots defended from the goal by Ally Henrikson and Riley Carolan.

Montana's best second-half chance came when Eliza Bentler broke free up the right side, but her shot to the far post was just wide.

It was only the third time in the team's last 15 matches that the Grizzlies were shut out.

"Last year we played a couple teams and got away with wins even though we didn't perform correctly," said Citowicki. "Then we didn't address it as we should have because it was a win. It just glosses everything over.

"You have to feel the pain of being scored on and losing. That's the best lesson of all because you immediately want to get back in the classroom so you can start working on it."

Sunday's schedule opened with Seattle and Denver playing to a 1-1 draw, both teams scoring in the second half.

Baylor now returns to Waco for its first home matches of the season, against Mississippi State and Texas.

"We wanted to get away with the team early in the season and this is a beautiful state and beautiful location," added Lenard. "And Montana has had a couple great years, so we knew they'd be a good opponent and be tough competition that could help prepare us for the rest of our season.

"All the teams here were going to give us a challenging game, which is what we need at this time of the year."

Ashlyn Dvorak got the start in goal for Montana and played all 90 minutes, after playing the second half of both of the Grizzlies' first two matches of the season. She made three saves.

On a day that reached 90 degrees, Henrikson and Maddie Ditta played 90 minutes, with Seelhoff and Ashlyn Sandow going 84 and 83, respectively.

Montana (1-1-1) will play at unbeaten Boise State (1-0-2) on Thursday night before returning home to host Nevada (1-1-0) next Sunday afternoon.