Griz with big week ahead

The Montana soccer team will close out its pre-Big Sky Conference schedule this week with a pair of challenging home matches, hosting Gonzaga and Washington State at South Campus Stadium.

The Grizzlies (4-2-1) will host the Bulldogs (2-5-0) on Thursday at 4 p.m., the Cougars (1-2-3) on Sunday at 11 a.m.

Montana will open its league schedule at Northern Arizona on Thursday, Sept. 25.

Coverage: Both matches this week will stream on ESPN+ with Ace Sauerwein calling the action.

Notes:

* Montana moved back into the United Soccer Coaches West Region rankings this week after the Grizzlies won 1-0 at UC Davis on Sunday. Montana is No. 9, the only Big Sky team to be ranked.

* The first RPI of the season was released this week by the NCAA. Montana is No. 157, Washington State is 175, Gonzaga is 243. The Grizzlies have the top RPI in the Big Sky.

* Montana upped its winning streak to three with Sunday's win at UC Davis. The 1-0 victory gave the Grizzlies back-to-back shutouts for the first time this season.

Montana has not allowed a goal in the last 204:01, since Nevada converted a penalty kick. The Grizzlies have not allowed a goal in the run of play in more than 351 minutes, since early against Boise State.

* Montana has 72 shutouts in 137 matches under eighth-year coach Chris Citowicki.

* Both of this week's opponents have given Montana fits over the years. The Grizzlies are 1-12-0 against Gonzaga since 2003, with four goals scored in the teams' last nine match-ups.

Montana is 0-12-1 against Washington State since 2005. The Cougars have won the teams' last five match-ups by a combined score of 20-2, two of those matches coming in the NCAA tournament.

* Montana is 3-1-1 at home this season and 17-1-3 in its last 21 matches at South Campus Stadium. The Grizzlies are 148-68-34 (.660) all-time in Missoula between three home fields over that history.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies won their lone match last week, winning 1-0 at UC Davis on Sunday on an Eliza Bentler goal in the sixth minute.

It marked the second straight match the Grizzlies opened the scoring before their match was six minutes in. Makena Smith scored in the fifth minute in Montana's 5-0 home win over MSU Billings.

Bentler's goal came from the left side, after playing a cross into the box that Chloe Seelhoff, surrounded by Aggies, touched back to Bentler, who lofted a shot over UCD's goalkeeper.

It was Bentler's first goal of the season, the eighth of her career. The assist was Seelhoff's second in two matches and gave her a point in four consecutive matches.

Seelhoff, with five goals and two assists, ranks second in the Big Sky in points with 12. She is tied for the Big Sky lead in goals scored.

It was Montana's first road win of the season in only the Grizzlies' second road match of the fall. Their only other road match was a 2-1 setback at Boise State.

Ashlyn Dvorak went the distance in goal, making a season-high four saves while facing 16 shots. It was Montana's first individual shutout of the season, Dvorak's first since Aug. 25, 2024.

It was Dvorak's 15th career shutout and moved her up to fifth in program history behind Claire Howard (32), Kailey Norman (24), Railene Thorson (19) and Camellia Xu (19).

Montana was out-shot 17-8 by UC Davis but both teams put five shots on goal. The Aggies took four corner kicks to the Grizzlies' three.

It was Montana's first-ever victory over UC Davis after losing both ends of a home-and-home series to the Aggies in 2009 and '10.

At a glance (Gonzaga): The Bulldogs enter the week 2-5, their wins coming over NCAA Division II Simon Fraser by a score of 2-1 and Illinois-Chicago by a score of 3-0. UIC has an RPI of 220.

Among its losses, Gonzaga fell 2-1 to Utah and 1-0 to Washington, both at home. The Bulldogs also fell 2-0 at home to Air Force, still Air Force's only win of the season.

Two games ago, Gonzaga fell behind Utah Valley 4-0 early in the second half, then scored three goals in less than six minutes to claw its way back into it before falling 5-3.

In their most recent match, the Bulldogs fell 2-1 at No. 14 TCU, evening the score at 1-1 in the 77th minute before giving up the game-winner in the 80th.

Junior forward Katelyn Rigg leads Gonzaga with three goals. Two of those have come on penalty kicks.

Redshirt sophomore Michaela McCollum has played all but 45 minutes in goal this season. She has a 1.69 goals-against average, a .711 save percentage.

Gonzaga made its second-ever NCAA tournament appearance in 2023, which capped a multi-season run of success under coach Chris Watkins, who then took the job at Boston College.

The Bulldogs went 10-7-2 last season under first-year coach Katie Benz, a former assistant at Montana. Gonzaga closed the season going 6-2-1, the two losses one-goal setbacks against ranked opponents.

Given that strong finish, Gonzaga was picked third in the West Coast Conference preseason poll behind Santa Clara and Pepperdine. Junior defender Makayla Werner was voted preseason All-WCC.

Series history: Montana leads the all-time series with Gonzaga 13-12-0, with that history divided up into two distinct eras.

Montana won the teams' first 12 match-ups, between 1994 and 2002, outscoring Gonzaga 42-4. The Bulldogs have won 12 of 13 since then, the most recent a 3-0 victory in Spokane in 2021.

The Grizzlies' lone win over Gonzaga since 2003 was a 2-0 victory in Spokane in Montana's Big Sky championship season of 2014.

Montana is 5-4-0 at home against Gonzaga but has lost four straight. The Grizzlies' last home win over the Bulldogs came in 2002, under former coach Betsy Duerksen.

Montana coach Chris Citowicki is 0-2-0 against Gonzaga, losing to the Bulldogs in Spokane in 2019 (1-0) and in 2021 (3-0).

At a glance (Washington State): The Cougars, who played in the national semifinals of the NCAA tournament in 2019, are 1-2-3 through six low-scoring matches.

Only eight goals have been scored in Washington State's six matches, five by WSU's opponents, three by the Cougars.

After opening the season with a 1-0 home loss to Utah State, Washington State played to a 1-1 draw at Idaho. A 1-1 home draw against No. 13 Georgia followed.

Washington State's lone win of the season came Thursday at UC San Diego, a 1-0 victory. The Cougars finished that road trip with a 2-0 loss at UC Irvine, their first time allowing multiple goals this season.

Washington State hosts Summit League favorite North Dakota State on Thursday night.

Three players have scored one goal apiece this season, redshirt senior Keara Fitzgerald has played every minute in goal. She has a 0.83 goals-against average, a .865 save percentage.

Washington State went to 11 NCAA tournaments between 2008 and 2021 but has not advanced since. The Cougars are 26-20-17 since the start of the 2022 season.

Washington State was picked fifth in the WCC preseason poll. Redshirt senior defender Jenna Studer made the 11-player preseason All-WCC team.

Coach Todd Shulenberger is 107-62-32 in his 11th season at Washington State.

Series history: Washington State is 16-6-2 all-time against Montana, with the Grizzlies' six wins all coming between 1995 and 2004.

Since pulling out a 2-1 overtime home win over Washington State in 2004, Montana has gone 0-12-1 against the Cougars, getting outscored 32-6.

Montana is 4-4-1 at home against Washington State, 2004 the Grizzlies' last win in Missoula. Montana's only non-loss against Washington State since that win in 2004 was a 0-0 home draw in 2017.

Upcoming: The start of Montana's Big Sky Conference schedule, at Northern Arizona on Thursday night, Sept. 25, then home for Northern Colorado on Sunday, Sept. 28.

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Players Mentioned

Eliza Bentler

Ashlyn Dvorak

Chloe Seelhoff

Makena Smith

University of Montana Athletics