Montana takes over first place with 2-1 soccer victory over Big Sky rival Idaho

MISSOULA — Days like Thursday, when so many eyes were on the Montana soccer program, are why a program brings a player like Jen Estes into the fold.

Games like Thursday, when the Grizzlies faced Idaho in a battle of the top two teams in the Big Sky Conference at South Campus Stadium in Missoula, are why a program is glad it did.

Estes was the difference-maker against the Vandals, scoring goals in the ninth and 15th minutes to lead her new team to a 2-1 victory and a spot atop the Big Sky standings.

The Grizzlies (9-2-2, 3-0-0 BSC) won their fifth consecutive match and improved to 8-0-0 at home this season.

"Fifth-year transfers who come from high-level programs, their experience up front, that's what you get out of people like Jen," said coach Chris Citowicki of the Princeton transfer.

Estes' first goal made it 1-0 and came on a shifty move to remove herself from an Idaho defender. She found open space on the right side of goal and that's trouble because Estes has a booming right leg.

She did it again less than six minutes later, getting played up the right side by another high-level transfer, Chloe Seelhoff, and ripped an un-savable ball past Idaho's goalkeeper, her second two-goal game of the season.

The match had three goals in the opening 15 minutes, haymakers thrown by both teams, and a full-on intensity for the entire 90. That the match came on Oct. 10, exactly one month before the Big Sky championship game will be played on the same South Campus Stadium field, was fitting.

A rematch with even higher stakes would be a win for everybody.

"(Assistant coach Ashley Herndon) in her scout just put down, this one is going to come down to effort. We had a 1-v-1 practice day on Tuesday because we knew it was going to be combative," said Citowicki.

"Playing Idaho is just like playing a Mountain West team. They are going to be physical, they are going to be direct at times. You have to stop that directness, put in the effort to win the ball, then put the game away. When you have a player like Jen, she can do that for you."

While the highlights belong to Estes, the win was earned by the team, from Charley Boone and Reeve Borseth playing all 90 minutes on the back line, same as Maddie Ditta in the midfield, to Kayla Rendon Bushmaker and Ava Samuelson making the types of plays that could have led to one or two more goals.

"The biggest part I loved? They resorted to playing long and we were able to play through that at times. We were able to keep the ball and create and not just go into, you want to play long? Fine, we'll play long as well," said Citowicki.

In other words, the match lived up to the expectations, two high-level programs, Idaho's four losses this season all now coming against regionally ranked opponents.

"The girls were telling Jen and me, this is the game, this is the team. It's going to be a battle, so we trained for that," said Seelhoff, who played 81 minutes but squeezed what felt like 100 minutes of effort into it. Idaho was whistled for nine fouls, with Seelhoff drawing a majority of them.

"I came out excited and ready to battle and that's exactly what I did."

It couldn't have started any better for the Grizzlies, as Carly Whalen got the ball to Rendon Bushmaker early on the right side. She played the ball into Estes, who scored at 8:54 to make it 1-0.

"When you have Kayla doing that, Skyleigh (Thompson) doing that, Chloe doing that, Jen, you just have so many weapons, with Ava contributing her piece," said Citowicki.

Montana hadn't allowed a goal since Sept. 8 and hadn't allowed one at home all season. Idaho was unfazed by the stats and scored the equalizer less than a minute later.

Alyssa Peters, who attacks them with the ferocity of a penalty kick, took a corner and drove it to the far post, where Annika Farley headed it into traffic and into goal.

It was only the fourth goal allowed this season in eight starts by Bayliss Flynn, who improved to 6-0-2 with the win.

"One of Idaho's greatest strengths is set pieces," said Citowicki. "They are one of the best corner-taking teams in the conference if not the region. Disappointing we gave that one up."

All of a sudden it was 1-1. "We don't talk about not getting scored on at home. We say, win the game 2-1, 3-2, 4-1, I don't care. Just score goals. The immediate response to score again was the best part."

Less than five minutes later, Seelhoff picked up a sloppy Idaho pass, made her way up the middle of the field and played the ball up the right side to Estes, who did her thing.

If something was happening on Thursday, Seelhoff was typically right in the middle of it.

"Chloe has been an absolute monster in training lately," said Citowicki. "I've never seen someone train at the level she's training at right now with confidence. It's not just trying hard. She 100 percent believes in herself. It's a fun thing to watch."

While, at the time, it felt like it might take four goals for either team to win Thursday's match, Estes' second proved to be the game-winner.

"That shifted the momentum for the game. They kind of shut down after that," Seelhoff said. "Jen puts in that second goal, then silence."

Up 2-1 at the half, Montana exerted itself more in the second half, controlling possession and chances, the Grizzlies' third and insurance goal almost there but never quite materializing.

"You've got to play the full 90 minutes," said Estes. "We strive to play to the end of the game every game. We were intentional about that going into the second half."

Montana didn't allow an Idaho shot through the first 30 minutes of the second half and limited the Vandals to eight shots for the match, three of which were on goal.

"The first half, we didn't play Griz soccer," said Seelhoff. "We were kind of playing to their level of just aggressiveness.

"At halftime we talked about playing our game on top of the aggressiveness. That's exactly what you saw in the second half. We brought out what we needed to. Those two together are just unstoppable."

Of course, it is only October 10. Montana gets Eastern Washington at home on Sunday, then the Grizzlies have to play three of their final four league matches on the road.

Being in first place 10 days into October is certainly a goal achieved but not the ultimate one.

"This win means nothing," said Citowicki, meaning big-picture stuff, not the three points his team collected. "We could lose on Sunday, lose next week, lose the rest of them and all of a sudden, you're not in playoffs. We have to keep training well."

The Grizzlies and Eagles, who play at Northern Arizona on Thursday night, kick off at 1 p.m. on Sunday at South Campus Stadium.