Montana uses early goal to win at UC Davis

Sunday, September 14

Davis, Calif.

1 PM (MT)

Montana

4-2-1

UC Davis

1-4-3

Montana

UC Davis

Photo by: John Sieber via UM Athletics

9/14/2025 4:24:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana soccer team picked up its first road win of the season and collected its first-ever victory over UC Davis on Sunday afternoon as the Grizzlies got an early goal and went on to post a 1-0 win over the home team at Aggie Soccer Field.

Eliza Bentler scored her first goal of the season in the sixth minute and Ashlyn Dvorak made four saves as Montana earned its second straight shutout and picked up its third consecutive win to move to 4-2-1 on the season.

After hosting Gonzaga and Washington State this week at South Campus Stadium to close out nonconference, the Grizzlies will play three of their first four Big Sky Conference matches on the road, facing the gauntlet of Northern Arizona, Eastern Washington and Idaho away from home.

"That was the message beforehand. This is our final chance to go to someone else's field and prep ourselves for what's ahead," said coach Chris Citowicki, whose team had played only one other road match this season, at Boise State. "Can we thrive in a situation like this?

"So, there was a lot on the line for us. Can we get our first road win against a team we've never beaten before? I think they did tremendous."

For the second straight game, Montana went up before the match was six minutes old, after Bentler, playing the ball up the left side, crossed the ball into traffic. With nothing there, Chloe Seelhoff touched the ball back to her fellow senior, who lofted the ball over UC Davis goalkeeper Cat Pieper.

It was Bentler's eighth career goal, her second game-winner. Seelhoff collected her second assist of the season on the play.

It was the culmination of an early onslaught for the Grizzlies, who went on the offensive from the match's opening touch.

"That was the message, start strong, get after them, score early, score fast and score often, which almost happened," said Citowicki.

"If you get the momentum early, get the opening goal, you're up the rest of the way. We're good enough to shut out a team like that and make sure they don't get one on us."

Montana could have put a stranglehold on the match in the 24th minute when Carly Whalen got taken down from behind in front of goal, leading to a penalty kick for the Grizzlies. Maddie Ditta's attempt went over the crossbar.

From that point on, it was largely a 50-50 match, Montana playing with the lead, UC Davis playing catch-up.

"We could have put them away earlier. They are a good team and found their rhythm at times, but you get that in soccer," said Citowicki. "If you can't close it out early, you do it over the long run. We had to scrap it out, and I couldn't be more proud of them for it."

UC Davis fired 17 shots and had four corner kicks but Dvorak owned the space in front of goal, finishing with a season-high four saves to pick up her 15th career shutout, moving her into fifth in program history, a list topped by Claire Howard (32), who was in attendance on Sunday.

It was Howard's first time seeing Montana in person since playing her final match against South Carolina in the NCAA tournament in the spring of 2021.

She saw the Grizzlies pick up their first win over UC Davis after the Aggies swept a home-and-home series against Montana in 2009 and '10, winning those two matches by a combined score of 8-1.

"Ashlyn had to be ready to handle the aerial bombardment, so to speak," said Citowicki. "They were going to try to put balls in the box and try to head them into goal. The way she commanded that entire space, how aggressively she came out for the ball, it was old-school Ashlyn. It was beautiful to watch."

Before Big Sky plays begins, Montana closes out its nonconference schedule with home matches against Gonzaga and Washington State. The Grizzlies host the Bulldogs at 4 p.m. on Thursday, the Cougars at 11 a.m. on Sunday.