For the second season in a row, Missoula plays host to the Big Sky Conference women’s soccer tournament hosted at South Campus Stadium on Higgins Ave., in the Garden City. The University of Montana soccer team are the three-time reigning Big Sky regular-season champions. Sac State is the defending tournament champions but did not make the six-team field. Here’s a guide of what to watch this weekend.
NO. 6 NORTHERN ARIZONA VS. NO. 3 EASTERN WASHINGTON (WEDNESDAY, 11 A.M.)
No. 6 Northern Arizona (5-5-7, 2-3-3 Big Sky)
Head coach: Alan Berrios (fourth season, 27-20-20)
Previous Big Sky tournament wins: 2008, 2009, 2014, 2022
Important stat: Led conference in fouls (191) and yellow cards (19) – but didn’t have a red card…14 of 22 goals scored by Boex and Ott (7 apiece)
Player to watch: F Avery Ott, Sr.
With two of the most dangerous forwards in the league, Northern Arizona is not the typical No. 6 seed – and the Lumberjacks’ first-round match against Eastern Washington promises fireworks. In Alan Berrios’ fourth year as head coach, NAU started the conference season well by scoring twice early against Montana and holding on for a 2-1 win, the Grizzlies’ first Big Sky regular season loss in two-plus seasons. The ‘Jacks struggled from there, not winning again until a 3-0 demolition of Idaho in Moscow in the conference finale snuck them into the conference tournament.
Those two wins – both against tournament teams – demonstrate their upside, while a 4-0 loss in their regular-season game against Eastern illustrates the problem with this first-round matchup. Forwards Ott and Micala Boex, who were first and second in the conference in shots, play off each other incredibly well. Ott generally starts through the middle with Boex coming off the right side, but either can pop up anywhere at any point, and both are equally dangerous running in behind. Boex was named the conference co-Offensive MVP on Tuesday, with Ott making first-team all-conference. Although they’ve experimented a little, the formation is usually a classic 3-5-2 with a double pivot in front of the back three and Valerie Llamas pulling the strings underneath Ott and Boex. Goalkeeper Reece Reichwald was second in the conference in save percentage behind Montana’s Ashlyn Dvorak, but she didn’t start the final game of the season, with Lexi Saveski – great name for a goalkeeper – getting the shutout against Idaho instead. Expect Saveski to be the starter Wednesday against Eastern…
No. 3 Eastern Washington (8-6-4, 4-3-1 Big Sky)
Head coach: Missy Strasburg (fifth season, 29-45-15)
Previous Big Sky tournament wins: 2016, 2017
Important stats: Delani Walker led the conference with nine goals on just 36 shots
Player to watch: F Delani Walker, Sr.
After a dreadful 2-14-1 record in 2023, Missy Strasburg has turned things around with back-to-back tournament appearances. Any discussion of this year’s Eagles starts with their forward duo of Delani Walker and Chloe Pattison. Walker, a Missoula native returning to her hometown for the tournament, led the conference with nine goals and added five assists. The senior is a handful at striker, playing directly through the middle of the field and occupying and dominating center backs with her strength and speed. She can also come back to the ball and play as a target forward, and her finishing this year has been deadly.
She was named co-Offensive MVP on Tuesday. Pattison, who often plays to the left of Walker and can tuck underneath her into attacking midfield, was the Big Sky Offensive MVP a year ago after scoring 11 goals, and has six more this season. It is impossible to play 2-on-2 straight up against the duo, so opposing center backs will need help. Elsewhere, the Eagles press high with ferocity and commitment, particularly if the opposition plays goal kicks short. This is an extremely dangerous team – tied with Montana for second in the conference in goals scored after Weber – that is also prone to shipping goals at the other end (although they’ve posted three straight shutouts going into the tournament). Walker and Pattison’s duel against NAU’s Ott and Boex should provide plenty of scoring and be the highlight of the first round.
NO. 5 IDAHO VS. NO. 4 PORTLAND STATE (WEDNESDAY, 2 P.M.)
No. 5 Idaho (5-5-8, 2-2-4 Big Sky)
Head coach: Jeremy Clevenger (eighth season, 70-49-23)
Previous Big Sky tournament wins: 2023
Important stat: Second in conference in goals allowed (18); second to last in goals scored (15)…last in conference in shots (167; 10.44 per game)
Player to watch: D Izzy Thoma, Sr.
If the first game of the day looks likely to see multiple goals, Idaho’s game against Portland State feels like it will be decided by a 1-0 score either way – or even in penalties after a scoreless 110 minutes. These are two steady defensive teams – who are also eighth and ninth in a nine-team conference in goals scored. The Vandals – who fell back this season after four straight double-digit win years under Jeremy Clevenger – keep possession well out of a 3-4-3 with a diamond midfield, but that hasn’t led to many goals.
Hallie Prinos-Brumbach on the left of midfield and Annika Farley on the right will get wide and serve crosses into the box, and despite losing dead-ball specialist Alyssa Peters (13 assists a season ago), Idaho remains threatening on set pieces from anywhere in the attacking half. The possession gives the Vandals a good defensive base and the back three of Miranda Goldner, Thoma (a deserved first-team all-conference selection) and Amalia Fonua has played well this year, so Idaho still looks like a dangerous tournament team. They also have great results with draws against Boise State and Montana and an uncharacteristic 3-2 win against Eastern Washington. But can the Vandals string together three straight shutouts? They might have to in order make it back to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years.
No. 4 Portland State (4-8-4, 3-3-2 Big Sky)
Head coach: Maureen Whitney (second season, 8-17-9)
Previous Big Sky tournament wins: none
Important stat: did not surrender more than one goal in a game in conference play…last in conference in goals scored (14 in 16 games)
Player to watch: D Kalo Iongi, Sr.
Like Idaho, the Vikings are very solid defensively – and several tiers below that offensively. Maureen Whitney is in her first year as solo head coach after serving as co-head coach with Katie Burton in 2024, and she has made PSU difficult to break down in a low block with two defensive midfielders sitting in front of a back four. Center back pair Iongi and Kainani Jacang are good and experienced, although stalwart Liv Frazier has battled injuries and missed the season finale against Sac State. Goalkeeper Natalie Cunningham is one of four ‘keepers in the conference with a save percentage over .800.
On offense, senior Ocean Rideout has a knack for clutch goals, but the real danger is sophomore Aliayha Saldana, who was the Big Sky Freshman of the Year last year and set the conference tournament on fire with a banger goal against Eastern Washington. Despite having just two goals and one assist this year, she remains a powerful, pacey dribbler and a threat shooting from distance with either foot. As such, she’ll start on the right wing but pop up anywhere on the field, whether that’s dropping into the 10 role and pushing Maya Wells out wide or switching wings with Rideout to attack off the left. I’ve even seen her overlapping the left winger. Saldana going nuclear and the defense remaining solid is PSU’s best recipe to make it to Sunday.
THE TOP TWO SEEDS
No. 2 Weber State (11-6-1, 5-2-1 Big Sky)
Head coach: Kyle Christensen (first year, 11-6-1)
Previous Big Sky tournament wins: 1998, 2004, 2005, 2013
Important stat: led the conference in goals scored (33) a year after scoring just 18…front three (Grace Kirby, Saylor Schlosser, Presley Ray) all scored at least five goals
Player to watch: F Gracy Kirby, Sr.
Weber’s ascension under first-year head coach Kyle Christensen might be the best story in the league heading into the tournament, even more than Montana winning its third straight title. A year after winning three games, the former assistant at Utah Valley has transformed the Wildcats into a high-powered show that beat Oregon State, North Dakota State and runaway Mountain West champ Boise State in the non-conference and stampeded through the Big Sky averaging two goals a game. Following an uncharacteristic 1-0 loss to Portland State, the Big Sky regular-season title was decided when Montana mollywhopped the Wildcats 4-0 in Missoula, a loss they’ll surely be looking to avenge in the Garden City this week.
Christensen has done what most first-year head coaches promise and few achieve, fielding a fun-to-watch team that plays entertaining, high-octane soccer. That starts with the front three of, from left to right, Kirby, Schlosser and Ray, all of whom are wickedly fast. The two wingers feast in one-on-one situations while Schlosser occupies the center backs with runs in behind, and the fullbacks and dual center midfielders all get forward. Center back Bella Sackett is technically very good, able to step past the first wave of pressure and hit long balls to Kirby and Ray, which unlocks them to go one-on-one and starts the whole dangerous cascade flowing downhill. The downside comes because Brynlee Meyerhoffer often plays as the only holding midfielder when Lily Blum and Tenzi Knowles, the other midfielders, step into the attack.
That causes problems in transition after Weber turnovers and puts a ton of pressure on Meyerhoffer, the center backs and, eventually, true freshman goalkeeper Lauren Butorac, who was named the conference Freshman of the Year and had been good but not exceptional with a .769 save percentage. The Wildcats can certainly hang with NAU or Eastern Washington, their two potential semifinal opponents, in shootouts, but can they avoid a repeat of their first meeting against Montana if that’s the title-game matchup?
No. 1 Montana (11-3-3, 5-1-2 Big Sky)
Head coach: Chris Citowicki (eighth season, 79-38-30)
Previous Big Sky tournament wins: 1997, 1999, 2000, 2011, 2018, 2021
Important stat: first in Big Sky with 9 goals allowed, half as many as second-place Idaho…first in scoring margin with +20, twice as much as second-place Weber State
Player to watch: M Maddie Ditta, Sr.
As usual, the road to the Big Sky title goes through Montana, which is looking to finish the deal after semifinal losses each of the last two years as the No. 1 seed. This year, the Griz outpointed a very good Weber State team for the regular-season title despite a run of injuries that claimed, among others, Big Sky MVP candidate Chloe Seelhoff. Still healthy are exceptional central midfielder Ditta, fifth-year central defender Ally Henrikson and goalkeeper Ashlyn Dvorak, which gives the Griz three of the best in the league at their respective positions. Dvorak was named the conference Goalkeeper of the Year and Henrikson the Defensive MVP on Tuesday, with Ditta joining them on the first team all-conference. Like usual, Montana controls games, limits opposing chances and has plenty of firepower at the attacking end. That starts with Ditta, who tilts the field in UM’s favor with her combo of two-footed technical skill, relentless athleticism and experienced positioning in the middle of the park.
In Seelhoff’s absence, youngsters like winger Reagan Brisendine and freshman Maycen Slater have stepped up to provide scoring, while Henrikson, Miami (Ohio) transfer Makena Smith and a rotating cast of athletic fullbacks don’t give up many chances. If they fail, there’s Dvorak, who won the starting job back from Bayliss Flynn after breaking her wrist last year and plays goalkeeper with a hair-on-fire blend of aggression and athleticism. The Billings native led the league in goals-against-average and save percentage by laughable margins.
The Griz might be in trouble if the weight of the moment proves too much for their young forwards, but they’ll be favored even in low-scoring games. Montana has won four straight games despite the injuries, and the Grizzlies’ only regular-season Big Sky loss in the last three years was this year’s conference opener against Northern Arizona in a game they mostly dominated. Chris Citowicki’s team combines an explosive offense that’s nearly on par with Weber State’s with by far the best defense in the league and, if they can handle the pressure of playing the tournament at home, should be the favorite to take the trophy on Sunday.
