Griz open league at Southern Utah, Utah Tech

The Montana soccer team, coming off a quiet September with only three matches played, will open its Big Sky Conference schedule this week with matches at Southern Utah and Utah Tech.

The Grizzlies (2-6-0) and Thunderbirds (3-5-1) will play at 4 p.m. on Thursday at Thunderbird Soccer Field in Cedar City in the teams' 12th all-time match-up.

Montana will face the Trailblazers (4-4-1) at 11 a.m. on Sunday at Greater Zion Stadium in St. George, the Grizzlies' first-ever match at Utah Tech and only the teams' second-ever meeting.

Montana will be off next week before getting into a steady Thursday-Sunday groove that will take the Grizzlies through their regular-season finale against Portland State on Thursday, Nov. 5.

The six-team Big Sky Conference Championship will be held at South Campus Stadium in Missoula beginning on Wednesday, Nov. 11.

Coverage: Both matches this week will stream on ESPN+.

At a glance (Montana):

* The Grizzlies played just three matches in the month of September, losing 2-0 at Denver, 3-1 at home to Wyoming and 4-0 at Gonzaga. Their match at Air Force on Sept. 3 was canceled (travel issues).

* Montana is seeking its first Division I win of the season and its first victory since defeating MSU Billings 2-1 in Missoula on Aug. 30.

* The Grizzlies went 18-1-5 in league matches during the 2023, '24 and '25 seasons and won three outright Big Sky Conference regular-season championships.

* After an offseason that saw a coaching change and 17 new players join a program with one returning starter, Montana was picked seventh in the Big Sky preseason coaches' poll.

* The Grizzlies have been out-scored 19-5 through eight matches, have been out-shot 136-59.

* Elli Lewis leads Montana with two goals. Megan Wilson-Sofield, Liv Thorne-Thomsen and Grace Morton have each scored once.

* Avery Heeb has gotten a bulk of the minutes in goal. She has a 2.22 goals-against average, a .643 save percentage.

At a glance (Southern Utah):

* The Thunderbirds return to the Big Sky Conference after playing soccer in the league from 2012 to 2021. SUU went 23-56-12 in league over those 10 seasons and did not make a Big Sky tournament.

* Southern Utah was a near-unanimous pick to finish last in this year's preseason coaches' poll.

* After going 8-33-13 the last three seasons, SUU moved on from coach Kai Edwards and replaced him with former associate head coach Steven Lindquist.

* The Thunderbirds are 3-5-1, with a pair of 1-0 road wins in August, at South Carolina State and at The Citadel. Their third win was an 18-0 victory over Justice College.

* Outside of the statistics from that match, Southern Utah has been outscored 13-6 this season and is averaging less than a goal per match.

* In its most recent match, the Thunderbirds lost 2-0 at Boise State, when SUU was out-shot 26-4.

* Freshman Gracen Blieschke leads Southern Utah with four goals and three assists. Two of her goals and two of her assists came in the lopsided win against Justice College.

* Freshman Tatum Trout has started all nine matches in goal.

Series history:

* Montana has never lost to Southern Utah, going 7-0-4 since the teams first played in 2011, a memorable 4-4 draw in Cedar City.

* In that match, Southern Utah led 4-1 at the half before Montana rallied to earn a draw, with Erin Craig scoring three times and assisting on Allie Simon's equalizer in the 87th minute.

* The Thunderbirds have scored just five goals in 10 matches against the Grizzlies since their high-scoring series opener.

* Montana has gone 3-0-3 against Southern Utah in Cedar City.

* The teams' most recent match-up was a 3-0 Montana win in Missoula to start the 2025 season.

* The teams' most recent match in Cedar City was a 1-0 Montana victory in 2021, with Bella O'Brien, assisted by Ally Henrikson and Ava Samuelson, scoring the game-winner in the 44th minute.

At a glance (Utah Tech):

* The Trailblazers, in their first year in the Big Sky after playing in the WAC the previous six seasons, were picked a strong third in the preseason coaches' poll, getting a first-place vote.

* Like Montana, Utah Tech only played three matches in September. The Trailblazers, who host Portland State on Thursday night, have not played since losing 4-2 at home to Cal State Northridge on Sept. 10.

* It was an up-and-down pre-league schedule for Utah Tech, which celebrated a 2-1 home win over Utah, then four days later was humbled 8-1 on the road at Utah State.

* The Trailblazers' wins have come over Westminster, UC Riverside, Utah and Colorado State.

* Their most recently scheduled match, at New Mexico on Sept. 17, was canceled because of lack of available players on Utah Tech's side due to several injuries.

* Utah Tech had five first- or second-team All-WAC selections last season when it went 8-7-5, 4-4-2 in league. Four of those players returned.

* Two of those players, junior midfielder Bre Koscielski and sophomore forward Jocelyn Wright, were voted to the Preseason All-Big Sky team. Wright was the WAC Freshman of the Year last season.

* Koscielski has not played since Aug. 23 after starting the season's first four matches.

* Through nine matches, Utah Tech has allowed 22 goals (2.44/g), 16 of those being scored by three opponents, UC San Diego, Utah State and Cal State Northridge.

* Redshirt junior forward Lataya Brost has five goals and three assists. She scored all four of her team's goals in Utah Tech's three September matches.

* Senior forward Ella Rusick has scored four times, all four coming in the season's first three matches. Wright has totaled two goals and an assist.

* Utah Tech is coached by Lexi Brown, who was an accomplished player at Utah Valley and spent five years as an assistant at Gonzaga before getting the Utah Tech job in 2023.

Series history:

* Montana and Utah Tech have played only one time previously. The Grizzlies defeated the Trailblazers 4-0 at Gonzaga in 2023, three days before Montana knocked off Oklahoma 1-0 on the same field.

* Montana got goals in that win from Maddie Ditta, Ava Samuelson, Sydney Haustein and Kathleen Aitchison.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* The Big Sky schedule opens on Thursday with four matches, the most high-profile game being Weber State at Idaho.

Weber State, which lost to Montana in a shootout in last year's Big Sky championship match, was picked first in this year's preseason poll, collecting five first-place votes.

Idaho, which lost to Montana in a shootout in last year's Big Sky semifinals, was picked second behind the Wildcats and collected four first-place votes.

* Idaho has the Big Sky's top RPI of 116 and has to its credit a 3-0 win at Washington State to open the season and last week's 1-1 home draw with Gonzaga.

* Eastern Washington sits atop the Big Sky standings in win percentage (6-2-1) and has an RPI of 177. Weber State (173), Northern Arizona (198) and Northern Colorado (199) also are in the top 200.

* The rest of the league: Idaho State (221), Utah Tech (238), Portland State (282), Southern Utah (295) and Montana (297).

* Thursday matches: ISU at EWU, UM at SUU, PSU at UT, WSU at UI

* Sunday matches: UM at UT, PSU at SUU, ISU at UI, WSU at EWU

Upcoming: Montana will be off next week before hosting Idaho State and Weber State on Thursday, Oct. 15, and Sunday, Oct. 18.

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Players Mentioned

Maddie Ditta

Avery Heeb

Ally Henrikson

Elli Lewis

Grace Morton

Liv Thorne-Thomsen

Megan Wilson-Sofield

University of Montana Athletics