Montana shuts out Gonzaga 4-0

Thursday, September 18

Missoula, Mont.

4 PM

Montana

5-2-1

Gonzaga

2-6-0

Gonzaga

Montana

Photo by: Tommy Martino/University of Montana

9/18/2025 8:42:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana soccer team went into Thursday's home match against Gonzaga hoping to put an end to some one-sided history that heavily favored the Bulldogs over the last two decades.

The Grizzlies put an emphatic end to that history and then made some of their own, shutting out Gonzaga 4-0 at South Campus Stadium.

It was Montana's first home win over Gonzaga since 2002, back when Betsy Duerksen was coaching, and the Grizzlies' largest margin of victory over the Bulldogs since 1999.

Perhaps even more important than any of that is Thursday's match continued Montana's winning ways. The Grizzlies extended their winning streak to four matches and have now scored 11 unanswered goals.

Thursday was a result no one saw coming, not even Montana coach Chris Citowicki, not after he watched Gonzaga go on the road in its last match and take No. 14 TCU to the wire in a 2-1 loss.

But then Chloe Seelhoff and Maddie Ditta scored to give Montana a 2-0 halftime lead, and then Lydia Robertson made it 3-0 in the second half before an own goal in the 88th minute made it 4-0.

It was Gonzaga's largest shutout loss to an unranked opponent since 2016.

"I didn't expect this. I don't think anybody did. Our mantra behind the scenes is to score early, score first and score often and just get after teams," said Citowicki. "It was immensely impressive."

And to think it was Gonzaga that looked like a giant in the opening moments, creating two corner kicks in the first two minutes, punching first but thankfully not landing a blow.

Three weeks ago in Boise, the Broncos did the same thing and led 2-0 nine minutes in.

"Let's face it. We didn't have it in the first handful of minutes and they had opportunities," said Citowicki.

"We could have been stronger and more alert. We weren't in Boise and we got punished. Today we didn't. We found our way back in the game quickly, then we executed in front of goal."

Did they ever. The Grizzlies put seven shots on goal against the Bulldogs and scored on three of them.

"In the build-up, we said the momentum isn't going to be with us the whole time. It's going to shift. If we're the team that panics when we don't have it, we're going to get punished for it," said Citowicki.

"Maintain your composure and find your way back in the game. You could sense the nervousness in the build-up, but they did such a good job finding their composure and believing in themselves."

Having Seelhoff, who scored her Big Sky-leading sixth goal in the 18th minute to make it 1-0, certainly helps that belief.

After Lucie Rokos worked her way through most of Gonzaga's defense and to the right end line, she crossed the ball across the box to a waiting Seelhoff, who did that thing few can pull off.

When the fast-paced ball skipped to her, she didn't knock it down, then shoot it. She just ripped it out of the air. It happened so fast, Gonzaga goalkeeper Michaela McCollum could only get her fingers on it.

"It was a perfect set-up by Lucie," said Seelhoff. "She reads the game so well. She looked up and perfectly placed the ball.

"We talked a lot about momentum shifts. Those first five minutes might have been frantic but taking the momentum and running with it was super fun."

No one in the facility would have believed Seelhoff's goal would be the game-winner, not in a match that was still incredibly tense, but it would turn out to be.

It was another super senior, Maddie Ditta, who made it 2-0 in the 36th minute, and she owes Emma Widmor big time for it.

From 20 yards out, Widmor bodied her way around one defender, drew another away from Ditta and set Ditta up to left-foot one from 20 yards out.

The shot made its way through traffic in front of McCollum and got past the diving goalkeeper inside the right post for Ditta's fifth goal of the season.

Two matches ago, Gonzaga scored three goals at Utah Valley in the second half in less than six minutes, so even a 2-0 lead at the half on Thursday wasn't exactly comfortable.

There was still plenty of work to do.

"I had THEM written on the whiteboard. I wiped it off and wrote US. This our time now. You're not letting them back into this," said Citowicki. "We continue until we score again."

Montana limited Gonzaga to just two shots in the first half, one on goal. With the Bulldogs on the offensive to start the second half, it was up to Ashlyn Dvorak and the back line in front of her.

If Gonzaga could have made it 2-1, the entire vibe of the match would have changed. Dvorak didn't allow it, making three big saves over the opening 20 minutes of the second half to keep it 2-0.

"Soccer is a game of momentum shifts. We could feel the momentum shift when we got our first goal and shift again when we got our second goal," said Dvorak.

"Going into half, nobody has momentum, so we needed to gain it early and fast. I don't score goals but I can save shots and collect crosses. The back line made my job very easy today."

It was Montana's third consecutive shutout victory, the 16th of her career for Dvorak, who made a season-high six saves.

Any lingering stress was fully released in the 70th minute when Lydia Robertson scored her first career goal.

Robertson got the ball well out from goal on the right side, snaked her way to the center of the field and put one over a leaping McCollum from 23 yards out.

Gonzaga made it 4-0 when a Bulldog defender, trying to clear a Seelhoff cross in the 88th minute, kicked it in right under the crossbar. Yep, even up 3-0 in the 88th minute, Montana was still on the attack.

"Even if it is 2-0, don't try to just hold on. Keep going," Seelhoff said. "If you're up, keep going. There is no reason to sit back."

Montana defeated North Dakota 4-0 last season, Utah Tech and Miami (Ohio) 4-0 in 2023, but those teams were not Gonzaga, the team picked third in the strong West Coast Conference.

"I don't know many Griz teams that have put in a complete performance like that from a scoring perspective," said Citowicki.

"Maybe it's been we'll get up 2-0 in the first half, then we'll defend you the rest of the way. This was about finishing the game, and we did finish the game."

More history that could use some correcting arrives on Sunday when Montana hosts Washington State at 11 a.m. at South Campus Stadium.

The Grizzlies are winless in their last 13 matches against the Cougars, with Washington State outscoring Montana 20-2 in the teams' last five match-ups.

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