MISSOULA, Mont. – Doing all of its scoring in the second half on Sunday afternoon at South Campus Stadium, the University of Montana picked up a 4-0 women's soccer exhibition win over visiting Montana State University Billings.
The teams were level 0-0 after the first 45 minutes of play, before the hosts scored shortly after halftime and then bolstered the win with three goals in the final 20 minutes of action. "I am proud of our team for the bravery, energy, and effort they showed," said MSUB head coach
Stephen Cavallo. "We knew we had large spells in the game we would suffer possession wise, but I felt our defensive organization was great and our game plan worked for large portions of the match."
Jaden Griggs highlighted the match with a hat trick for the Griz (0-0), while Bella O'Brien also found the net for the hosts. Taylor Hansen had a pair of assists, while Ali Monroe, Allie Larsen, and Molly Quarry each had one assist in the match.
The Yellowjackets, who remain 0-0 after the exhibition contest, faced a barrage of shots in the match as the Griz out-paced them 31-8 in that category. UM also won 10 corner kicks while conceding none.
MSUB's best scoring chances came early on as its only three shots on frame all came in the opening 45 minutes of play. Goalkeeper Camelia Xu made all three saves required however, and earned the shutout with 90 minutes between the posts.
Clare Keenan made three saves in the opening half to help keep the score at 0-0, and
Tuva Sallvin made four stops in her 45 minutes to close out the game. Senior
Haylee Gunter and freshman
Jackie Sharpe paced the MSUB offense with two shots apiece, while Gunter,
Leila Clark, and
Lexie Bloyder each landed an attempt on target.
Vendela Andersson led the defensive unit playing all 90 minutes on the back line, while Bloyder played 79 minutes and
Hailee Gertsch contributed 70 as a center back.
Griggs got the Griz on the board shortly after the teams returned to the pitch, as she netted the game's first goal in the 51st minute on Hansen's first assist. She doubled her tally in the 70th minute on a feed from Monroe, and completed the hat trick with seven minutes left on the clock on Larsen's assist. O'Brien added one more goal for good measure with just two minutes remaining, as Hansen and Quarry combined on a pair of passes leading to the final score.
"These matches truly prepare us for the war that is the Great Northwest Athletic Conference," Cavallo said. "I am proud of what our team has accomplished this pre-season, and I believe we have learned a lot through these two weeks about ourselves. We are looking forward to our first countable games this upcoming week."
THE BUZZ: Keenan was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…MSUB finished its pre-season with a 2-1 record, picking up 1-0 wins over both Rocky Mountain College and University of Providence before Sunday's setback against the Griz.
AHEAD: The 2021 regular season kicks off this week, with road matches against Northern State University on Thursday and University of Nebraska Kearney on Saturday. The 'Jackets have five non-conference matches in September, before kicking off the 14-game GNAC schedule on Sept. 23 against Seattle Pacific.
