Montana faces important road matches

The Montana soccer team, coming off an opening-week split of its Big Sky Conference schedule, will play two important road matches this week, traveling to Eastern Washington and Idaho.

In the Big Sky preseason poll, the Grizzlies were picked first, the Eagles second, the Vandals third.

Montana (7-3-1, 1-1-0 BSC) will play at Eastern Washington (5-4-3, 1-1-0 BSC) at 4 p.m. (MT) on Thursday at EWU Soccer Field in Cheney, at Idaho (3-4-5, 0-1-1 BSC) at 2 p.m. (MT) on Sunday at the P1FCU Kibbie Dome in Moscow.

While those three teams were picked atop the preseason poll, it's Weber State (8-4-0, 2-0-0 BSC) sitting first in the Big Sky standings one week into the league schedule.

Montana's next game after this week's road contests will be hosting the upstart Wildcats at South Campus Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 9.

Montana notes:

* The Grizzlies dropped their Big Sky opener at Northern Arizona on Friday morning, a match that was scheduled for Thursday night but got postponed by lighting. The loss snapped Montana's 16-match unbeaten streak in regular-season league games dating back to October 2022.

* Montana bounced back with a 2-0 home win over Northern Colorado on Sunday to improve to 20-1-3 in its last 24 matches at South Campus Stadium. It also gave the Grizzlies a 10-9-5 all-time record against the Bears, meaning Montana now has an all-time winning record against every Big Sky opponent.

* How big is this stretch of games in Montana's quest to win a third straight Big Sky regular-season championship? There hasn't been a two-loss Big Sky champion since 2012, a title that was shared by three teams. There hasn't been an outright two-loss champion since 2008.

* In Friday's loss at Northern Arizona, the Lumberjacks led 2-0 at the half. In Montana's three losses this season – against Baylor, Boise State and NAU – the Grizzlies fell behind 2-0 in the first half in each of them.

* Montana has allowed seven first-half goals this season, only one in the second half. The Grizzlies have outscored their opponents 9-7 in the first half, 12-1 in the second half.

* Sunday's win improved Ashlyn Dvorak to 21-8-4 in goal and moved her into fifth on the program list for career wins. She also posted her 18th career shutout. She is two clean sheets from moving into the top three in program history behind Claire Howard (32) and Kailey Norman (24).

* Montana is ranked No. 9 in this week's United Soccer Coaches West Region poll.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies opened league on Friday with a 2-1 loss at Northern Arizona, Montana's first regular-season Big Sky loss since losing at Weber State in October 2022.

Avery Ott scored in the fifth and 28th minutes to put the Grizzlies in a 2-0 hole. Reagan Brisendine scored her first collegiate goal and Montana's only goal of the match in the 75th minute.

Montana out-shot Northern Arizona 20-8, put two shots off the crossbar and watched as the Lumberjacks came through with a pair of team saves from non-goalkeeper defenders. The Grizzlies finished the match holding 61 percent of the possession but a loss on the scoreboard.

Unable to get back to Missoula until Saturday afternoon because of travel complications, Montana came through with a gutsy 2-0 home win over Northern Colorado on Sunday afternoon.

Brisendine opened the scoring in the 25th minute off a sweet double assist from Emma Widmor and Chloe Seelhoff.

Eliza Bentler made it 2-0 with just 22 seconds left in the match, her third goal of the season, the 10th of her career. She becomes the 26th player in program history to reach 10 career goals.

Montana has now won four straight matches over Northern Colorado, outscoring the Bears 8-1 in the process.

Montana held Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado to three shots on goal over 180 minutes of match time.

The Grizzlies have outscored their opponents 21-8 this season, Montana's goals-against average of 0.73 is tied for 42nd in the nation.

Chloe Seelhoff, with six, is tied for second in the Big Sky in goals. She is tied for second in assists with four and sits second in points with 16.

Dvorak leads the Big Sky in goals-against average (0.67) and is tied for the league lead with four shutouts.

At a glance (Eastern Washington): The Eagles are 5-4-3 overall and 4-1-2 at home this season, their only loss at EWU Soccer Field a 2-1 decision against Pacific.

Eastern Washington had just one Big Sky loss last season to finish a strong third in the league at 4-1-3. The No. 3 Eagles lost in penalty kicks to No. 6 Portland State in the Big Sky quarterfinals.

With Big Sky Preseason MVP Chloe Pattison, who had 11 goals and three assists last year, back in 2025, Eastern Washington was picked second in the preseason poll.

The Eagles had a six-match unbeaten streak snapped by Pacific on Sept. 21, then they opened league on Thursday with a 2-1 loss at Weber State, falling behind 2-0 before pulling within one in the 78th minute.

Eastern Washington returned home and defeated Idaho State on Sunday 2-0. Delani Walker converted a penalty kick in the 33rd minute, her Big Sky-leading seventh goal of the season. Pattison scored her fifth goal of the season in the 67th minute.

Walker is the daughter of former Griz football player Travis Walker.

Senior goalkeeper Kamryn Willoughby has played most of the team's minutes in goal. She owns a 1.22 goals-against average.

Series history: Montana leads the series against Eastern Washington 17-8-5 and has gone 10-5-1 against the Eagles in Cheney.

Eighth-year Montana coach Chris Citowicki is 3-1-4 against the Eagles, the teams' last three match-ups ending in draws.

On its way to unbeaten Big Sky finishes in 2023 and '24, Montana was unable to defeat the Eagles, playing them to 1-1 draws in 2023 and '24.

At a glance (Idaho): The Vandals were Montana's primary threat as the Grizzlies won consecutive Big Sky titles in 2023 and '24, finishing second behind Montana both seasons.

Idaho has finished second in the Big Sky three straight years, going back to its runner-up finish in 2022 behind Northern Arizona.

At last November's Big Sky tournament in Missoula, No. 2 Idaho got by No. 6 Portland State 2-1 in the semifinals, rallying with a pair of goals in the final 18 minutes of regulation.

In the championship match, the Vandals played No. 5 Sacramento State to a 110-minute scoreless draw before falling in a shootout.

Idaho started the season strong offensively, posting six goals in its first three matches, defeating UC Riverside 2-0 and UMass Lowell 4-0, but the Vandals have scored just four times in their last nine matches.

That's led to a lot of low-scoring matches, with some high-quality results thrown in, including 1-1 home draws with Washington State and Boise State.

There have also been three 0-0 draws, including Thursday's Big Sky opener at Idaho State. Finishing the road trip at Weber State on Sunday, Idaho fell behind 3-0 before losing 3-1.

Idaho has allowed the second-fewest goals in the Big Sky this season, only 11, with seven of those coming in losses to Washington and Weber State. Its other 10 matches: four total goals allowed.

Annika Farley leads Idaho with three goals. Redshirt sophomore Paula Flores has played every minute in goal. She has a 0.92 goals-against average, a .804 save percentage.

Series history: Montana leads the series with Idaho 14-9-1 and owns a 7-5-0 record against the Vandals in Moscow.

Citowicki is 6-2-1 against Idaho, both losses coming in the 2022 season. As the top two teams in the league in 2023 and '24, Montana won 2-0 in Moscow in '23, 2-1 at home last season.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Weber State, with home wins over Eastern Washington and Idaho, holds down the top spot in the standings. The Wildcats have won four straight and are 8-4-0 after winning just twice last season.

* Northern Arizona and Sacramento State are both 1-0-1. The Lumberjacks opened with a home win over Montana, the Hornets won 1-0 at Northern Colorado on a goal in the 88th minute. Northern Arizona and Sacramento State played to a 1-1 draw in Sacramento on Sunday.

* Montana and Eastern Washington are tied for fourth with 1-1-0 league records, with Idaho and Idaho State tied for sixth at 0-1-1. Portland State has yet to play a league match. Northern Colorado is at the bottom of the standings at 0-2-0 in league without a goal scored.

* Thursday matches: Montana at Eastern Washington, Portland State at Weber State, Idaho at Sacramento State

* Sunday matches: Montana at Idaho, Portland State at Idaho State, Northern Colorado at Northern Arizona, Eastern Washington at Sacramento State

Upcoming: Three straight matches at home, starting next week with Weber State and Idaho State. Senior Day will be on Sunday, Oct. 19, when Montana hosts Sacramento State.

The regular season will conclude with a match at Portland State on Thursday, Oct. 23.

The Big Sky Conference Championship will open in Missoula on Wednesday, Nov. 5.

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Players Mentioned

Eliza Bentler

Reagan Brisendine

Ashlyn Dvorak

Chloe Seelhoff

Emma Widmor

University of Montana Athletics