Soccer
Citowicki, Chris
Chris Citowicki
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- chris.citowicki@mso.umt.edu
- Phone:
- O: 243-6624; C: 203-505-5002
2024 GoGriz.com Person of the Year
The 2025 season is Chris Citowicki’s eighth year as head coach of the Montana soccer program. He was hired in May 2018 after previously working as the associate head coach at North Dakota.
He is just the fourth coach in the history of the program, which started in 1994.
He follows Betsy Duerksen (1994-2003), Neil Sedgwick (2004-10) and Mark Plakorus (2011-17) in leading a program that has won 10 Big Sky Conference regular-season championships and seven tournament titles in its history, and has been to six NCAA tournaments.
Citowicki, the 2023 Big Sky Coach of the Year, has led the Grizzlies to seven Big Sky championships and three NCAA tournaments in his first seven seasons, winning regular-season titles in 2019, ’20, ’23 and ’24, and tournament championships in 2018, ’20 and ’21.
He enters the 2025 season with a record at Montana of 68-35-27. He is the second-winningest coach in program history behind Duerksen, the program’s founder. His teams have gone 39-8-12 in Big Sky play, 46-11-13 against league teams overall including the postseason.
He guided his first team, in 2018, to the Big Sky tournament championship as the No. 5 seed. The Grizzlies won three matches in five days, all by shutout, all over higher-seeded teams to send Montana to its first NCAA tournament since 2011.
In 2019 Montana went 6-0-3 in league to win the regular-season title, its first since 2014.
In 2020, a season played in the spring of 2021, the Grizzlies won the Big Sky Northwest Division title with a 7-1-0 record and doubled up with a tournament championship as well.
Montana lost 1-0 to South Carolina in the first round of the NCAA tournament. It was only the second one-goal differential for the Big Sky champion in the national tournament since 2006.
In 2021, Montana went 13-6-1, its most regular-season wins since 2000, won the Big Sky tournament and advanced to its sixth NCAA tournament, half of which have come under Citowicki as coach.
Montana had one of its best seasons in program history in 2023, going 13-3-3 and ending the season with an RPI of 96, its best year-end RPI for a fall season since 2000.
The Grizzlies defeated Oklahoma, played to draws with Ohio State and Oregon State and won the Big Sky with an unbeaten 7-0-1 record. Montana’s home match against Ohio State attracted a program-record crowd of 1,973 to South Campus Stadium.
Montana scored 33 goals in 19 matches, its most since 2000, and set a Big Sky record by allowing only nine. The Grizzlies led the nation in team save percentage (.903), tied for third in goals-against average (0.47) and was among the national leaders with 11 shutouts.
Montana repeated as Big Sky regular-season champions in 2024, going 6-0-2 in league to become the first program in Big Sky history to go unbeaten in back-to-back seasons. The Grizzlies hosted the Big Sky tournament for only the second time since 2000.
Montana led the nation in shutout percentage (.737) and ranked second in save percentage (.888) and sixth in goals-against average (0.52/g).
In addition to coaching his players to numerous Big Sky, region and national awards, Citowicki has had a number of former players go on to play professionally overseas or represent their native country in international competition.
Taylor Hansen, a three-time first-team All-Big Sky player under Citowicki, played for the San Diego Wave of the National Women’s Soccer League in 2022.
Citowicki spent the 2017 season as the associate head coach at North Dakota in the Fighting Hawks’ final year as a member of the Big Sky.
North Dakota had its most successful season as an NCAA Division I member, finishing 6-8-4, a four-win improvement from the previous year.
Prior to working at North Dakota, Citowicki was the head coach at Division III St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minn. He led the Wildcats for six seasons (2011-16).
The Wildcats went 1-17 in Citowicki’s first year and improved to 9-8 the following fall, the biggest turnaround that season in Division III. He had a six-year record at the school of 47-57-4.
In 2016, in Citowicki’s final season, the Wildcats went 11-6-2 and advanced to the semifinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) tournament for the first time in program history.
With that foundation in place, St. Kate’s won the MIAC in 2017, during Citowicki’s one season at North Dakota, and advanced to the NCAA Division III national tournament.
After finishing outside the top four in the MIAC standings every season from 2001, when it began competing in soccer, to 2015, St. Catherine, on the foundation Citowicki built, has not finished lower than fourth in the nine years since.
Citowicki was a graduate assistant at Division II Bemidji State for the 2006 and ’07 seasons, then coached at Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault, Minn. He was an assistant coach at Division III Augsburg in 2010 before being hired by St. Kate’s.
He spent eight years working in the Minnesota Olympic Development Program and coached five years for the Minnesota Thunder Academy, an ECNL club.
Citowicki earned an undergraduate degree in sports administration from Lock Haven in 2006, a master’s degree in sport studies from Bemidji State in 2008.
He and his wife, Aryn, have a daughter, Vivia, and a son, Sebastian.
Montana accolades under Citowicki:
United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-American: 1
United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-West Region: 8
College Sports Communicators Academic All-District: 17
Big Sky Conference Scholar-Athlete: 4
Academic All-Big Sky Conference: 125
United Soccer Coaches All-West Region (first team): 3
United Soccer Coaches All-West Region (second team): 1
United Soccer Coaches All-West Region (third team): 6
Big Sky Conference Offensive MVP: 2
Big Sky Conference Defensive MVP: 1
Big Sky Conference Goalkeeper of the Year: 3
Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year: 2
Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year: 1
Big Sky Conference Golden Boot winner: 1
All-Big Sky Conference (first team): 22
All-Big Sky Conference (second team): 11
All-Big Sky Conference (honorable mention): 9
Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week: 12
Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week: 22
The 2025 season is Chris Citowicki’s eighth year as head coach of the Montana soccer program. He was hired in May 2018 after previously working as the associate head coach at North Dakota.
He is just the fourth coach in the history of the program, which started in 1994.
He follows Betsy Duerksen (1994-2003), Neil Sedgwick (2004-10) and Mark Plakorus (2011-17) in leading a program that has won 10 Big Sky Conference regular-season championships and seven tournament titles in its history, and has been to six NCAA tournaments.
Citowicki, the 2023 Big Sky Coach of the Year, has led the Grizzlies to seven Big Sky championships and three NCAA tournaments in his first seven seasons, winning regular-season titles in 2019, ’20, ’23 and ’24, and tournament championships in 2018, ’20 and ’21.
He enters the 2025 season with a record at Montana of 68-35-27. He is the second-winningest coach in program history behind Duerksen, the program’s founder. His teams have gone 39-8-12 in Big Sky play, 46-11-13 against league teams overall including the postseason.
He guided his first team, in 2018, to the Big Sky tournament championship as the No. 5 seed. The Grizzlies won three matches in five days, all by shutout, all over higher-seeded teams to send Montana to its first NCAA tournament since 2011.
In 2019 Montana went 6-0-3 in league to win the regular-season title, its first since 2014.
In 2020, a season played in the spring of 2021, the Grizzlies won the Big Sky Northwest Division title with a 7-1-0 record and doubled up with a tournament championship as well.
Montana lost 1-0 to South Carolina in the first round of the NCAA tournament. It was only the second one-goal differential for the Big Sky champion in the national tournament since 2006.
In 2021, Montana went 13-6-1, its most regular-season wins since 2000, won the Big Sky tournament and advanced to its sixth NCAA tournament, half of which have come under Citowicki as coach.
Montana had one of its best seasons in program history in 2023, going 13-3-3 and ending the season with an RPI of 96, its best year-end RPI for a fall season since 2000.
The Grizzlies defeated Oklahoma, played to draws with Ohio State and Oregon State and won the Big Sky with an unbeaten 7-0-1 record. Montana’s home match against Ohio State attracted a program-record crowd of 1,973 to South Campus Stadium.
Montana scored 33 goals in 19 matches, its most since 2000, and set a Big Sky record by allowing only nine. The Grizzlies led the nation in team save percentage (.903), tied for third in goals-against average (0.47) and was among the national leaders with 11 shutouts.
Montana repeated as Big Sky regular-season champions in 2024, going 6-0-2 in league to become the first program in Big Sky history to go unbeaten in back-to-back seasons. The Grizzlies hosted the Big Sky tournament for only the second time since 2000.
Montana led the nation in shutout percentage (.737) and ranked second in save percentage (.888) and sixth in goals-against average (0.52/g).
In addition to coaching his players to numerous Big Sky, region and national awards, Citowicki has had a number of former players go on to play professionally overseas or represent their native country in international competition.
Taylor Hansen, a three-time first-team All-Big Sky player under Citowicki, played for the San Diego Wave of the National Women’s Soccer League in 2022.
Citowicki spent the 2017 season as the associate head coach at North Dakota in the Fighting Hawks’ final year as a member of the Big Sky.
North Dakota had its most successful season as an NCAA Division I member, finishing 6-8-4, a four-win improvement from the previous year.
Prior to working at North Dakota, Citowicki was the head coach at Division III St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minn. He led the Wildcats for six seasons (2011-16).
The Wildcats went 1-17 in Citowicki’s first year and improved to 9-8 the following fall, the biggest turnaround that season in Division III. He had a six-year record at the school of 47-57-4.
In 2016, in Citowicki’s final season, the Wildcats went 11-6-2 and advanced to the semifinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) tournament for the first time in program history.
With that foundation in place, St. Kate’s won the MIAC in 2017, during Citowicki’s one season at North Dakota, and advanced to the NCAA Division III national tournament.
After finishing outside the top four in the MIAC standings every season from 2001, when it began competing in soccer, to 2015, St. Catherine, on the foundation Citowicki built, has not finished lower than fourth in the nine years since.
Citowicki was a graduate assistant at Division II Bemidji State for the 2006 and ’07 seasons, then coached at Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault, Minn. He was an assistant coach at Division III Augsburg in 2010 before being hired by St. Kate’s.
He spent eight years working in the Minnesota Olympic Development Program and coached five years for the Minnesota Thunder Academy, an ECNL club.
Citowicki earned an undergraduate degree in sports administration from Lock Haven in 2006, a master’s degree in sport studies from Bemidji State in 2008.
He and his wife, Aryn, have a daughter, Vivia, and a son, Sebastian.
Montana accolades under Citowicki:
United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-American: 1
United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-West Region: 8
College Sports Communicators Academic All-District: 17
Big Sky Conference Scholar-Athlete: 4
Academic All-Big Sky Conference: 125
United Soccer Coaches All-West Region (first team): 3
United Soccer Coaches All-West Region (second team): 1
United Soccer Coaches All-West Region (third team): 6
Big Sky Conference Offensive MVP: 2
Big Sky Conference Defensive MVP: 1
Big Sky Conference Goalkeeper of the Year: 3
Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year: 2
Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year: 1
Big Sky Conference Golden Boot winner: 1
All-Big Sky Conference (first team): 22
All-Big Sky Conference (second team): 11
All-Big Sky Conference (honorable mention): 9
Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week: 12
Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week: 22
| CHRIS CITOWICKI AT A GLANCE | ||||||
| PERSONAL | ||||||
| Hometown | Poznan, Poland | |||||
| Education | Lock Haven, 2006 | |||||
| Family | Wife: Aryn Daughter: Vivia; Son: Sebastian |
|||||
| COACHING RESUME | ||||||
| Years | School, Position | |||||
| 2006-07 | Bemidji State, Graduate Assistant | |||||
| 2010 | Augsburg, Assistant Coach | |||||
| 2011-16 | St. Catherine, Head Coach | |||||
| 2017 | North Dakota, Assistant Coach | |||||
| 2018-Present | Montana, Head Coach | |||||
| COACHING HISTORY | ||||||
| Year | School | Record | Conf. Record | Conf. Finish | Postseason | |
| 2011 | St. Catherine | 1-17-0 | 0-11-0 | 12th | ||
| 2012 | St. Catherine | 9-8-0 | 4-7-0 | t-9th | ||
| 2013 | St. Catherine | 7-11-0 | 2-9-0 | 11th | ||
| 2014 | St. Catherine | 7-9-1 | 4-7-0 | 9th | ||
| 2015 | St. Catherine | 12-6-1 | 7-4-0 | 5th | MIAC Quarterfinals | |
| 2016 | St. Catherine | 11-6-2 | 6-4-1 | 4th | MIAC Semifinals | |
| 2017 | North Dakota | 6-8-4 | 4-5-1 | t-5th | ||
| 2018 | Montana | 7-9-6 | 3-2-4 | t-6th | NCAA First Round | |
| 2019 | Montana | 7-6-6 | 6-0-3 | 1st | Big Sky Semifinals | |
| 2020 | Montana | 9-2-0 | 7-1-0 | 1st | NCAA First Round | |
| 2021 | Montana | 13-6-1 | 7-1-1 | 2nd | NCAA First Round | |
| 2022 | Montana | 7-7-6 | 3-4-1 | 6th | Big Sky Semifinals | |
| 2023 | Montana | 13-3-3 | 7-0-1 | 1st | Big Sky Semifinals | |
| 2024 | Montana | 12-2-5 | 6-0-2 | 1st | Big Sky Semifinals | |
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