MISSOULA — The Montana soccer team, coming off a second consecutive regular-season championship, collected an armful of accolades on Tuesday as the Big Sky Conference announced its individual award winners and all-league teams.
Jen Estes, the Grizzlies’ key offseason pickup from Princeton, was voted the co-Offensive MVP and the unanimous Newcomer of the Year, while sophomore Bayliss Flynn was voted the Goalkeeper of the Year.
Estes and Flynn were both named first-team All-Big Sky, as were Ava Samuelson, Charley Boone and Maddie Ditta.
Chloe Seelhoff, an offseason transfer from Washington, was Montana’s lone selection on the second team. Freshman Carly Whalen was named honorable mention.
That Flynn is in the process of authoring one of the most remarkable seasons by a goalkeeper in Montana’s successful history is only part of the story.
She is 9-0-4 in her 13 starts this season with 10 shutouts, a .919 save percentage that leads the entire country and a 0.38 goals-against average that ranks sixth.
Almost more impressive than what she’s done with her opportunity, starting the last 13 matches after Ashlyn Dvorak, all-region a year ago, was injured against Fresno State in late August, is that Flynn was prepared for her moment.
There is a scenario that could have taken place this season – and odds were that it was more likely to take place than not – that Dvorak played every minute in goal, just as she did last year when she went 13-3-3 and earned first-team All-Big Sky honors.
When Dvorak started the season’s opening match against Colorado College, that scenario was set in motion. She started the season’s first five matches before injury sidelined her, opening the door for Flynn, who stepped in and has owned it ever since.
“It’s amazing,” said coach Chris Citowicki. “I’ve said this hundreds of times now, but it’s because of the work she did behind the scenes to make sure she was ready if the chance ever came. Most people who are waiting are not truly preparing because they’ve checked out.
“It’s amazing the level of professionalism she has. When you combine that with the level of coaching she is getting (with associate head coach J. Landham), they make an amazing team. That’s why she’s pulling off the things she’s pulling off.”
She becomes Montana’s fourth Goalkeeper of the Year, all of which have come since 2016. Previous winners at Goalkeeper U were Kailey Norman (2016), Claire Howard (2021 spring) and Camellia Xu (2021 fall). The Grizzlies have had a first-team All-Big Sky goalkeeper four of the last five seasons.
If Flynn’s story this season was a surprise, Estes’s was more expected after playing three seasons at Princeton and proving her playmaker skills with the Tigers, totaling six goals and six assists over 49 matches.
Still, not even Citowicki was quite projecting seven goals and four assists for Estes. Three of her goals and two of her assists have been in league, two of those goals coming in Montana’s 2-1 home-field win over Idaho in a match-up between the teams that would finish first and second in the standings.
Estes ranks second in the Big Sky in both goals and points (18).
It’s the eighth time a Grizzly has been voted the Offensive Player of the Year, the second consecutive season after Skyleigh Thompson was honored last fall.
“Two in a row. That’s impressive for a team known for its defending,” said Citowicki. “That was the whole point of bringing her in. We wanted to add to the firepower of the team. When injuries started kicking in, Jen really had to take on a big role, and she did it perfectly.”
Boone and Samuelson were named first-team for the second consecutive season. Ditta improved from second-team as a sophomore to first-team as a junior.
“Who wouldn’t want those three players on their team?” said Citowicki. “Three amazing players, three amazing people and great leaders. Solid professionals who would fit on any team.”
Boone, playing in front of Dvorak at center back last season, helped Montana post the statistically most dominant defensive season in Big Sky history, the Grizzlies allowing nine goals in 19 matches while posting 11 shutouts.
Playing in front of Dvorak this season for five matches, then Flynn for the last 13, Boone has been the centerpiece of a back line that has allowed 10 goals through 18 matches, the second-lowest total in Big Sky history. The Grizzlies’ 13 shutouts this fall are a new program record.
It’s worth noting that over those 3,330 minutes of defensive dominance the last two seasons – that’s an average of one goal allowed every 175 minutes of game time, or about one every two games – Boone has played 3,300 minutes, sitting for all of 30 in three matches that were well in hand.
Samuelson becomes an All-Big Sky selection for the third time in three seasons, earning second-team honors as a sophomore, first-team as a junior and senior.
Outside of her career numbers – three goals, 14 assists, those assists the seventh-most in program history – she is the player you’d most like to have as a teammate, someone who sees the field, reads the play in front of her like few others, then has the ball-striking ability to put it exactly where she wants it.
Her assist numbers are down this season and that’s largely attributable to the loss of Delaney Lou Schorr, who was injured at Wyoming and hasn’t been back.
Schorr, a big target in front of goal, was the ideal running mate for Samuelson, who could knock a milk bottle off a fence post from 50 feet away with regularity. Samuelson got the ball in space, Schorr charged toward goal and the connection was made, foot to head and on a dime. Goal Montana!
Of the six goals Schorr scored, from her final one of the 2022 season through the five she netted as a junior, five were assisted by Samuelson.
And all this overlooks the fact that Samuelson doubles as an outside back and has been an integral part of that dominating defense over the years.
Ditta took the big step this season, going from good (second-team All-Big Sky last year) to great (first-team this fall).
Thriving in the chaos of the midfield, the junior finished the regular season with four goals and an assist, her nine points ranking third on the team and nearly matching the 11 she totaled as a freshman and sophomore combined.
She has made a habit of scoring goals that decide outcomes. Eight career goals, eight game-winners, like this year when she got Montana rolling in its 3-0 demolition of Oregon State, or when she scored the game-winner in league against Northern Arizona and Portland State and Idaho State.
Her one assist this season? That resulted in a game-winner as well, in Montana’s 1-0 home victory over IU Indianapolis, a career ready-made for a DJ Khaled background soundtrack. Truly, all she does is win.
Seelhoff, like Estes, joined the program in the offseason as a Division I transfer. But unlike Estes, she didn’t yet have the collegiate numbers after two years at Washington, only promise and untapped potential.
Given the chance to finally spread her wings and play freely this season, she has rewarded Montana with six goals and an assist, ranking third in the Big Sky in goals.
It took a while. Through the first seven matches of the season, Seelhoff had 12 shots, only two of which were on goal.
She broke through with a goal against North Dakota, then a week later had her signature match, scoring twice in Montana’s 2-0 home win over Boise State against a team that is now 15-3-2 and took the No. 1 seed into this week’s Mountain West Conference tournament.
Seelhoff brings something to unique to the field, whether it’s practice or matches: an intense competitiveness not seen around South Campus Stadium since the days of Maysa Walters. Winning is the only option, no matter what she’s doing.
“Most important, she’s just getting going,” said Citowicki. “If you want to rank her second team, that’s fine. As a senior next year, she will completely light this place up.
“She has brought a level of competitiveness to our team that hasn’t been around since Maysa left. There is an intensity to her that she balances nicely with the kind of leader she is. She brings out the best in so many other people. It’s that level of competition and want to win that Chloe brings that is so special.”
Is it a coincidence that Montana hasn’t lost since Whalen moved into the starting lineup against North Dakota, going 8-0-2 since? Maybe. Maybe not.
She scored less than five minutes into her first career start, then later added an assist against the Fighting Hawks. She made it two straight games with an assist against Boise State, then made it three in a row against Northern Arizona in Montana’s Big Sky-opening win.
She’s been an integral part of the Grizzlies’ success ever since. The only indication she is a freshman is the designation in the game program. Her play on the field? Nothing first-year about it.
“The most impressive thing about her is she is playing completely out of position as a wing back,” said Citowicki. “If you knew Carly on the club scene, you’d think, why on earth are they playing her out there?
“Because she’s good and can play anywhere. We’ll throw her into the back line, into the midfield. She’s just a jack of all trades who can do anything. To be able to do that at the collegiate level as a freshman when we’re trying to win titles? What a season.”
Montana (12-2-4), unbeaten since August, takes the No. 1 seed into this week’s Big Sky Conference Championship at South Campus Stadium, where the Grizzlies are 9-0-1 this season and unbeaten in their last 15 matches dating back to last season.
Montana will face either No. 4 Northern Arizona or No. 5 Sacramento State in a semifinal match at 2 p.m. on Friday. The Lumberjacks and Hornets square off in a quarterfinal match on Wednesday at 2 p.m.
