MISSOULA — For the second straight year, the Montana Grizzlies are Big Sky Conference regular-season soccer champions. UM blitzed Weber State 3-0 on Sunday afternoon in Ogden, Utah, to win the title once again.
Montana needed to sweep its final road trip of the regular season or an Idaho loss on Sunday to seal the championship, and after picking up a 2-0 win over Idaho State on Friday to start on the right foot, everything fell in place for UM on Sunday.
The Grizzlies started hot out of the gates as Jen Estes scored just 62 seconds into the game, the fourth-fastest goal in program history and the quickest conversion since 2006. Estes' goal was assisted by Charley Boone.
An own goal from Weber State off of a cross from Ava Samuelson put Montana up 2-0 in the 10th minute, giving the Grizzlies plenty of breathing room down the stretch to seal it. Freshman Lucie Rokos put the cherry on top of the victory with a score in the 87th minute for her first career goal, and from there the celebration was on for the Grizzlies.
Keeper Bayliss Flynn was called upon for one save in the match as the Grizzlies dominated and Flynn recorded her 10th shutout of the season after taking over starting goalkeeper duties. Weber State got off just four shots total, including the one on goal, while UM put up 13 shots, seven of which were on goal.
UM finishes the regular season 12-2-4 overall and 6-0-2 in Big Sky play. In the two years Montana has won the conference title, the Griz haven't lost in league play and have gone 13-0-3 combined in that stretch.
Coupled with the Griz win, the Vandals fell to Northern Colorado 1-0, as well, on Sunday in Greeley.
The Grizzlies will now have a week off before they host the 2024 Big Sky Conference soccer championships at South Campus Stadium in Missoula. The tournament runs Nov. 6-10, and by winning the regular season championship on Sunday, Montana cliches the rights to host next year's championships again.
Here is the schedule of this year's Big Sky tournament:
Quarterfinals, Wednesday, Nov. 6
Match 1: Eastern Washington vs. Portland State, 11 a.m.
Match 2: Northern Arizona vs. Portland State, 2 p.m.
Semifinals, Friday, Nov. 8
Match 3: Match 1 winner vs. Montana, 11 a.m.
Match 4: Match 2 winner vs. Idaho, 2 p.m.
Championship, Sunday, Nov. 10
Match 5: Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner, 1 p.m.
