Box Score
The University of Montana women’s soccer team jumped to 1-1 in Big Sky Conference play after a 2-1 defeat of the Weber State Wildcats on a windy, 25 degree Sunday at Missoula’s South Campus Stadium. The 4-8-0 Wildcats drop to 0-2 in the Big Sky with their eighth straight loss. Montana climbs to 3-10-0 overall.
With a cold start in South Campus Stadium, Weber State began strongly with two early shots on goal to warm-up Montana keeper Grace Harris.
Continuing a first-half barrage, Weber would take first blood with a goal in the 29th minute by Ari Wood. The sophomore would pick up the ball off a blocked shot by Wildcat Lindsay Ortgiesen, scoring in the lower left corner past Harris. The goal would be Wood’s third of the season.
UM would interject a little warmth into the game in the 40th minute with substitutions of freshman Nawal Kirts and former Big Sky Player of the Week, Teresa Huemann. Within three minutes, Kirts would pick up a pass from Brandee Marone, crossed from far left of the goal, and drop the ball just inside the Weber left-hand goal post to tie the game. This was the second goal of the season by the true freshman out of Oklahoma.
Marone would again set up a teammate in the 65th minute of the match, passing to a hard-charging Frankie Brady, who would beat a defender by running to the right of Weber goalkeeper Rebecca Ritchie. Brady’s 12-yard shot would arc a game-winner over the head of the Wildcat keeper, driving the score to 2-1 Montana. The goal was the first of her career for the junior.
Weber would fight hard through the final 25 minutes of play but fall victim to a relentless Grizzly defensive effort. Notable defensive efforts were made by UM forwards Marone, Kaitlyn Heinsohn and Sarah Stevens as the Grizzlies adjusted to hold off the Wildcat offense. Though the Wildcats outshot the Grizzlies 16-12, only four of those shots were allowed in the second half.
Following play UM coach Neil Sedgwick said, “Going into the match today we knew that we wanted to keep the ball moving. We knew that it would be difficult on the field, especially through those first 20 minutes, given the conditions out there. And it was pretty cold, but in the end it ended up being a beautiful day for us.
“The best thing for me to see was that we did stick to a plan, and have it work for us for the entire match. We had outlined some specifics on attacking, and it worked out for us against a dangerous team. We knew that Weber was going to be a great challenge. We learned from our experience with Idaho State on Thursday, when we just came out a little over-aroused. Today, we were able to keep control of ourselves and execute our intentions on the field.”
In regard to Marone’s two-assist performance, Sedgwick said, “Brandee certainly had a great game this afternoon. We did have her in a slightly different position, and it’s a great spot for her. Granted, she’s still learning some aspects of playing with a different perspective, but overall, she did a great job for the team.
“We had so many solid performances, from Nawall (Kirts), for example. She played today after some time coming back from injury. She was able to come in cold and off the bench and score within a few minutes of being in the game. There are a lot of examples of efforts like hers from today and together they make for a great team effort.”
Marone commented on the team effort Sunday, saying, “I think that we all came out with a lot of heart today, and it paid off. For this game, we just figured out who to put where and it clicked for everyone. We were able to move the ball like we had planned for the entire time and it worked really well against a team like Weber.”
Sedgwick admits, “It’s nice to have played against such a solid program and to to be at 50% in the conference this week, a place we were in last season. It is a good start for carrying momentum into the remainder of our conference matches.”
Montana will be at home for two more games Friday, Oct. 16, vs. Big Sky Conference leader Sacramento State and Sunday, Oct. 18, vs. Portland State. Game time begins at 4 p.m. and noon respectively.
Sacramento will be fresh off a 1-0 win at Northern Colorado. Portland will enter South Campus Stadium Sunday after a 1-0 loss to Northern Arizona and a visit to Big Sky co-leader Eastern Washington on Friday.