Eagles top Grizzlies 1-0 - University of Montana Athletics

Thursday, October 29

Missoula, Mont.

3 PM

Montana

3-11-1, 1-5-1BSC

Eastern Washington

7-6-3, 1-4-2BSC

Team	1	2	Final F
Eastern Washington	1	0	1
Montana	0	0	0

The University of Montana Grizzly soccer team takes on Eastern Washington on Oct. 29, 2026, at Dornblaser Field, in Missoula.

Photo by: Casandra Evans/University of Montana

10/29/2026 7:04:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Eastern Washington scored in the 32nd minute and it held up as the game-winner on Thursday afternoon as the Eagles handed the Montana soccer team a 1-0 loss at South Campus Stadium in Missoula.

Jenna Howe was played up the right side and her shot was saved by Avery Heeb, one of her four saves on the match, but the rebound went to Mia Miconi, who scored her fourth goal of the season as Eastern Washington (7-6-3, 1-4-2 BSC) picked up its first Big Sky Conference win of the season.

The loss damaged Montana's chances of making its 13th consecutive Big Sky Conference Championship, which will be held in two weeks in Missoula.

The Grizzlies (3-11-1, 1-5-1 BSC) dropped to ninth place in the league standings and will need to win out and get some friendly results over the next week to avoid missing their first Big Sky Championship since 2013.

Montana hosts Idaho on Sunday at 1 p.m., Portland State next Thursday at 1 p.m.

While Thursday's final score was sour, the performance by the Grizzlies was mostly sweet, Montana looking as dangerous and as connected offensively as it has all season.

The Grizzlies were aggressive from the opening touch and had the Eagles holding on early, the field tilted to one side heavily, with Eastern Washington goalkeeper Payton Hyde making three saves in the opening 13 minutes.

And that would be the story of the match. Montana took a season-high 22 shots, putting 11 of them on goal, and Hyde stopped every one of them.

The one-sided feel of the match changed late in the first half, when Howe was played into space on the right side.

Her shot from 10 yards out forced Heeb to make an overhead save, but the shot's momentum carried the ball through Heeb's hands and toward the back post, where Miconi headed it in while colliding with Heeb.

Heeb would have to leave the match, with Jill Miliffe playing the final 13:36 of the first half before Heeb returned to play the entirety of the second half.

Play balanced out in the second half, though Montana took nine more shots, with Hyde saving three to record her sixth shutout of the season.

The Grizzlies had their most balanced attack of the season, with six players taking multiple shots. Grace Morton took five, putting three on goal, Elli Lewis took four, two of which were on goal, and Sofia Ballesteros finished with three shots off the bench.

Montana finished with a 22-11 advantage in shots, a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks.

Montana will host a surging Idaho team on Sunday. The Vandals, picked second in the Big Sky preseason poll, are unbeaten in their last three matches and have outscored their last two opponents 6-0, including a 2-0 road win at Portland State on Thursday.