Women's Soccer Heads To Missoula for Montana Cup
9/9/2015 6:50:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Omaha, Neb. - The alarm clock will sound early for the Creighton women's soccer team as the Bluejays fly to Missoula, Mont. at 4:45 am on Thursday, Sept. 10. Creighton battles Seattle University and Montana this weekend in the Montana Cup.
Creighton (4-2-0) vs. Seattle (3-2-0)
Friday, Sept. 11@ 3:00 p.m.
Live Stats (Free): http://www.sidearmstats.com/montana/wsoc/
Vidoe ($): http://www.gogriz.com/watch/
Creighton (4-2-0) at Montant (3-2-1)
Sunday, Sept. 13@ 3:00 p.m.
Live Stats (Free): http://www.sidearmstats.com/montana/wsoc/
Vidoe ($): http://www.gogriz.com/watch/
Series History:
First Meeting between Creighton and Seattle
Friday will mark the first meeting between the Bluejays and the Redhawks.
Creighton leads Montana, 1-0-0
The Bluejays have faced the host of the Montana Cup once previously, a 2-1 overtime win versus the Grizzlies in 2013. That match was in Morrison Stadium, while Sunday Creighton will face Montana in its home stadium.
Montana Cup Presents an Opportunity for Bluejays:
Coming off a tough home loss against South Dakota State last Sunday, a weekend road trip may be just what the Bluejays need. The trip begins with a plane ride on Thursday at 4:45 am. The arduous travel can help a team bond during the early portion of the season, specifically a team under new leadership. Creighton will face Seattle in the first game of the tournament on Friday, then battle the host Montana on Sunday. The fourth team playing in the tournament is Purdue, but the Boilermakers will play not play Creighton. Meanwhile Seattle and Montana do not face off in head-to-head play.
Scouting Creighton (4-2-0):
Last weekend may have offered the best of the Bluejays as well as the opposite end of the
spectrum.
Against Omaha in the match on Friday night the Bluejays controlled their local rival with a 4-0 pasting of the Mavericks. Creighton scored in just the 10th minute of play and added two more goals before the half. The third Bluejay goal came with just nine seconds remaining as freshman Emma Braasch sent in a corner kick from senior Jill Richgels.
Playing in oppressive heat and humidity two days later, the Bluejays seemed a step slow more often than not as South Dakota State earned its first
victory over Creighton in the ten-match series.
Creighton is 3-0-0 in Friday contests, outscoring the opposition 9-0. Sundays matches have been a bit less kind as the Bluejays are 1-2-0 and have been outscored 3-2.
Freshman Erin Scott has been impressive through six matches, she has allowed just three goals in over 500 minutes for a 0.51 goals against average (GAA).
Offensively the Bluejays continue to be paced by junior Ylenia Sacha. Each of Ylenia's goals have been unassisted, scoring two on penalty kicks. Sachau's first goal of the season came on a direct kick following a penalty.
Scouting Seattle (3-2-0):
After stumbling against its intrastate rivals (Washington State and Washington) in two of its first three matches, the Redhawks have won three of their last four.
An NCAA Tournament team last season, Seattle closed 2014 with a 15-4-3 mark, including a 5-0-1 record down the stretch. With just six goals in five matches, the Redhawks have yet to stride offensively. The early season stall is not overly startling as Seattle lost its top three goal scorers from 2014. Of the 68 goals the Redhawks tallied last season, Stephanie Verdoia (22), Natasha Howe (10) and Taylor Ritzman (11) accounted for 43.
The Redhawks, however, do have senior goalkeeper Brianna Smallidge back in goal. Smallidge held the opposition to just 18 goals in 21 matches last season, a 0.86 GAA. This year she has surrendered seven goals in five matches for a 1.36 GAA.
Seattle is beginning a nine-match road trip that will keep the Redhawks away from home until Oct. 9
Scouting Montana (3-2-1):
Tournament host Montana is hosting multiple teams for the second consecutive week as the Grizzlies hosted Utah State, Iowa and Washington State last weekend.
The Grizzlies have been a had team to describe through the first three weeks. Montana opened 2015 with a scoreless tie against Wyoming, then won a 4-3 shootout against Indiana State two days later. The second and third weekends of the season brought splits for the Griz as Montana defeated Nevada (1-0) and Iowa (1-0), but fell to Utah Valley (6-2) and Washington State (1-0 in overtime).
Montana closed 2014 with an impressive 12-6-2 record, including an 8-0-2 mark in Big Sky action. Despite hosting the conference tournament, the Grizzlies were upset in the semifinals by the No. 5 seed Idaho State, 2-1.
The early portion of 2015 has allowed freshman Dani Morris to emerge as the leader of the Montana offense with a team-leading three goals. Senior Mackenzie Akins has been there to guide Morris with two goals.
In goal the Grizzlies have split time with junior Kailey Norman getting the bulk of action. Norman, however, is just 2-2-0 in 414:48, while sophomore Maddie Vincent is 1-0-1 in 171:11. Norman was in goal for Montana's 1-0 win over Iowa last Sunday.
Richgels Approaching History:
With her first assist of 2015 coming against Omaha on Friday, senior Jill Richgels now has 13 career assists. That total places her four assists shy of the Bluejay top-10. Lulu Quigley (2000-03) holds the Creighton record with 30 career assists, but four players are tied for seventh with 17 helpers.
