Griz to host MSU Billings on Sunday

The Montana soccer team, regionally ranked and among the nation's leaders in home attendance, will host MSU Billings on Sunday as the Grizzlies continue playing their way through their non-conference schedule.

Montana (2-2-1) and the Yellowjackets (0-1-0), who opened their season on Thursday with a 2-0 loss to the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D., will kick off at 1 p.m. at South Campus Stadium.

It's the first of two single-match weeks for the Grizzlies, who play at UC Davis on Sunday, Sept. 14, then host Gonzaga and Washington State before opening Big Sky Conference play on Sept. 25 at Northern Arizona.

Montana split its matches last week, losing 2-1 at Boise State after surrendering two goals in the opening nine minutes, then defeating Nevada in Missoula, winning it on a Lucie Rokos goal in the 88th minute.

Coverage: Sunday's match will stream on ESPN+ with Asher Lynde calling the action.

Montana notes:

* Behind a pair of 1,000-plus attendances at the Rumble in the Rockies, Montana has brought in 3,395 fans for its opening four home matches of the season, an average of 849.

That figure (3,395) ranks 21st in the nation, third among non-Power 4 schools behind only Utah Valley and Saint Louis.

South Carolina leads the nation in total attendance (18,800) and average (4,700). Rounding out the top five are Texas A&M, BYU, Michigan State and Arkansas.

* When Chloe Seelhoff scored Montana's opening goal on Sunday in the Grizzlies' dramatic 2-1 home win over Nevada, it gave her 10 goals in 24 matches played for Montana.

She becomes the fifth-fastest in program history to reach 10 goals behind Courtney Mathieson (16 matches), Amy Wronski (18), Sheralyn Fowler (23) and Hallie Widner (23).

* Montana remained in this week's United Soccer Coaches West Region poll, slotting in at No. 10. The Grizzlies are the only Big Sky Conference team to currently hold a region ranking.

* Montana resumed its unbeaten ways at home with Sunday's 2-1 victory over Nevada, a week after Baylor ended the Grizzlies' 18-match unbeaten streak at South Campus Stadium.

Montana is 16-1-3 in its last 20 home matches and has gone 36-11-16 in Missoula under eighth-year coach Chris Citowicki.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies opened last week with a 2-1 road loss at Boise State. Added to Montana's 2-0 home loss against Baylor four days earlier, it gave the Grizzlies back-to-back losses for the first time in nearly two years, a remarkable run of success.

The Broncos opened the scoring in the sixth minute, their first goal against Montana since 2011, snapping a streak of six consecutive shutouts at the hands of the Grizzlies.

Boise State scored again in the ninth minute to put Montana in a 2-0 hole.

Chloe Seelhoff got Montana on the board in the 52nd minute with a long shot from the right wing. The Grizzlies, who generated eight second-half corner kicks, had multiple chances to get the equalizer, including an apparent goal scored by Seelhoff that was flagged for offside.

It was Boise State's first win over Montana since 2008.

Hosting Nevada on Sunday, Montana broke through in the 50th minute on Seelhoff's team-leading fourth goal of the season.

Riley Carolan played a long bouncing ball forward that a Nevada defender kicked straight into the air. Seelhoff positioned herself under it and left-footed it into the goal.

The match appeared destined to be a draw after the Wolf Pack evened the score on a penalty kick in the 66th minute and the match went into the final minutes tied.

With less than three minutes left, Lucie Rokos sent a rocket from 25 yards out off a setup by Reagan Brisendine that gave Montana its latest regulation win since Citowicki's first victory at Montana, back in 2018, when Hallie Widner scored at 89:12 to help the Grizzlies top Vermont 1-0.

Ashlyn Dvorak played all 90 minutes in goal at Boise State and played the first half against Nevada. Bayliss Flynn played the final 45 minutes and got the win, improving her career record to a still-unbeaten 11-0-5.

Lydia Robertson made her first career start at Boise State, Carolan had her first career assist against Nevada, Rokos scored her second career goal, her first game-winner, against Nevada.

Seelhoff leads the Big Sky in goals (4) and shots on goal (2.2/g)

At a glance (MSU Billings): The Yellowjackets opened their regular-season schedule on Thursday with a 2-0 loss at Mary, giving up two first-half goals and getting out-shot for the match 15-2.

MSU Billings went 6-8-4 a year ago, finishing fifth in the eight-team Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a 3-7-4 league record.

MSUB was picked sixth out of eight teams in this year's preseason poll.

Senior forward Liberty Palmer led the Yellowjackets and tied for fourth in the GNAC with six goals last season.

Claire Brogdon, who played every minute in goal last season, graduated. In Thursday's loss at Mary, freshmen goalkeepers Natalie Weinmaster and Emma Powell both played 45 minutes.

Sophomore forward Briel Powers, who started and played 81 minutes on Thursday against Mary, is from Missoula (Sentinel HS).

Abiye Jack is in his third year as MSU Billings' head coach, his fifth season with the program overall.

Series history: Montana is 6-0-0 all-time against MSU Billings, with all six meetings taking place in Missoula. The Grizzlies have outscored the Yellowjackets 20-0.

The teams played in Missoula last season and were scoreless at the half, despite the Grizzlies taking 19 first-half shots. Montana's 37 shots for the match tied for the second-most in program history, the most in a match since 1999.

The Grizzlies finally broke through on an Eliza Bentler goal in the 67th minute. Riley O'Brien made the final 2-0 with a goal in the 90th minute.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Every team in the league has at least one win now and six of the Big Sky's nine teams have a winning percentage of .500 or better.

* Weber State (3-2-0) sits atop the conference, holding a 3-2 road win at Oregon State and a 3-1 home win over Summit League favorite North Dakota State.

* After opening the season 2-0-2, Idaho State took its first loss on Sunday, losing 3-1 at Seattle. The Bengals opened their road trip with a 1-1 draw at Oregon State, tying it in the 90th minute.

* Since opening the season 2-0-0, with wins over Pacific and Oregon, Sacramento State has dropped three straight, getting outscored 11-0 by Central Arkansas, UC Irvine and Fresno State.

* On Thursday, Northern Colorado plays at 4-0-0 Colorado State and Weber State plays at Boise State.

* On Sunday, Northern Arizona, on a three-match unbeaten streak, plays at UC Irvine, ranked No. 6 in the West Region.

Upcoming: A second consecutive single-match week, with Montana playing at UC Davis on Sunday, Sept. 14.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Eliza Bentler

Reagan Brisendine

Riley Carolan

Ashlyn Dvorak

Bayliss Flynn

Riley O'Brien

Lydia Robertson

Lucie Rokos

Chloe Seelhoff

University of Montana Athletics