Griz wrap up non-conference on Sunday

The Montana soccer team will close out its non-conference schedule this weekend when it plays a match against Gonzaga in Spokane.

The Grizzlies (2-5-0) and Bulldogs (3-4-1) will kick off at 4 p.m. (MT) at Gonzaga's Luger Field.

Montana will be off from matches next week, then open its Big Sky Conference schedule on Thursday, Oct. 1, with a match at Southern Utah.

Gonzaga has a high-profile match-up against Utah Valley on Wednesday night at Luger Field, three days after the Bulldogs won 3-0 at Creighton.

Coverage: Sunday's match will stream on the Pac-12's YouTube channel.

At a glance (Montana):

* The Grizzlies dropped their only match last week, falling 3-1 at home to Wyoming, which improved to 6-2-0 with the victory.

* Montana scored first in the match, the Grizzlies' first goal this season against a Division I opponent, but the lead would be short-lived.

* Montana's goal came from freshman Grace Morton, who picked up a loose ball and scored in the lower right corner from 25 yards out after having near misses in previous matches.

* It was Montana's first goal from a true freshman since Maycen Slater scored the game-winner in Montana's 1-0 home win over Idaho State last season.

* After Morton scored in the 16th minute, Wyoming answered less than two minutes later and the match was tied 1-1 at the half.

* The Cowgirls scored the game-winner in the 54th minute, then scored the match's final goal in the 88th to finish with 22 shots to the Grizzlies' three.

* Junior Avery Heeb made her sixth start in goal in seven matches and finished with a season-high six saves while facing a season-high 22 shots.

* Junior Megan Wilson-Sofield leads Montana with 18 shots. She ranks sixth in the Big Sky at 2.57 shots per match. … Junior Elli Lewis is tied for eighth in the Big Sky with two goals.

Series history:

* Montana leads the series against Gonzaga 14-12-0 and has gone 8-8-0 against the Bulldogs in Spokane.

* Twelve of Montana's 14 wins over Gonzaga came between 1994 and 2002, before the Bulldogs picked up their first win over the Grizzlies in 2003.

* Gonzaga won 12 of 13 match-ups against Montana between 2003 and 2021, with the Grizzlies scoring nine goals.

* Much of that recent history came to an end last season when Montana defeated Gonzaga 4-0 in Missoula, the Grizzlies' first win over the Bulldogs since 2014, their first in Missoula since 2002.

* It was the most goals scored by either team in the series since Montana's 6-1 win in Spokane in 1999.

* Chloe Seelhoff and Maddie Ditta scored in the first half, Lydia Robertson made it 3-0 in the 70th minute. Montana went up 4-0 on an own goal in the 88th minute.

* Montana is 1-8-0 against Gonzaga in the teams' last nine meetings in Spokane, the Grizzlies' 2-0 win in its Big Sky championship season of 2014 the one UM victory.

At a glance (Gonzaga):

* The Bulldogs are 3-4-1 while having faced a challenging schedule. The team's four losses have come against teams (Oregon, Arizona, Seattle, Wyoming) that are a combined 20-9-4.

* Gonzaga played to a 1-1 draw at then No. 11 Washington, the only non-win for the now 7-0-1 Huskies.

* The Bulldogs, who have 15 goals through eight matches, have wins against South Florida (5-1), New Mexico (3-1) and on Sunday at Creighton (3-0).

* Gonzaga is under third-year head coach Katie Benz, who took over in December 2023 after Chris Watkins took the Boston College job (the Eagles are 8-0-0 this season).

* Benz was on staff at Montana for four years before working as an assistant for Watkins at Gonzaga for the 2021, '22 and '23 seasons.

* Gonzaga went 10-7-2 and 8-9-2 the previous two seasons under Benz, 6-3-1 and 6-3-2 in league in the competitive West Coast Conference, finishing third and tied for fourth, respectively.

* Gonzaga, now playing in the Pac-12, tied for sixth in the nine-team preseason poll.

* The Pac-12 is well represented in this week's national and regional polls. Texas State and Utah State are tied for 18th nationally. Those two teams plus San Diego State and Boise State are regionally ranked.

* Gonzaga is a handful offensively, with 15 goals scored through eight matches.

* A bulk of that scoring has come from sophomore forward Samantha Snorsky (6 goals, 2 assists) and junior midfielder Amelia Severn (5 goals, 3 assists).

* Snorsky was the WCC Freshman of the Year a season ago, Severn scored 10 goals last season and was first-team All-WCC.

* Severn made national news last month when she had four goals and an assist in the first half of Gonzaga's season-opening home win over South Florida.

* Severn was later named the Intercollegiate Women's Soccer Organization for Coaches National Player of the Week and was added to the Hermann Trophy Watch List.

* Junior Sydney Head has played every minute in goal this season. She has one shutout and a 1.50 goals-against average.

* Gonzaga plays at Big Sky-leading Idaho on Friday, Sept. 25, before opening its Pac-12 schedule at Boise State on Sunday, Oct. 4.

Upcoming: Montana will open its Big Sky schedule with matches at Southern Utah on Thursday, Oct. 1, and at Utah Tech on Sunday, Oct. 4.

The Grizzlies won't play at home again until hosting Idaho State on Thursday, Oct. 15.

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Players Mentioned

Maddie Ditta

Avery Heeb

Elli Lewis

Grace Morton

Lydia Robertson

Chloe Seelhoff

Maycen Slater

Megan Wilson-Sofield

University of Montana Athletics