MISSOULA — The Montana Grizzlies are the champions of the Big Sky Conference once again.
After beating Idaho in a thriller on Friday, Montana followed up with another classic against Weber State in the Big Sky Conference tournament championship game on Sunday in front of a record crowd at South Campus Stadium.
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After 110 scoreless minutes of regulation and overtime, the Griz out-scored the Wildcats 4-2 in penalty kicks to claim their title for the first time since 2021 in front of 2,227 fans on hand, the first-ever sold out crowd at the venue.
It's been an injury-riddled season for Montana left and right for a number of key players, and the Griz were down again as senior Ally Henrikson, who was voted the conference's defensive player of the year, went down late against Idaho and was out on Sunday.
But the Griz found a way. UM keeper Ashlyn Dvorak, the Billings native and conference's goalkeeper of the year who was also the hero on Friday, outdid herself once again as Dvorak pitched a clean sheet and then scored one of UM's four penalty kicks to help the Grizzlies punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
Senior Chloe Seelhoff, who broke her collarbone a few weeks ago and thought her season was over, powered through the injury and scored UM's second PK in a moment made for the movies, and freshmen Caylee Kerr and Maycen Slater followed up to put the icing on the cake as fans got a glimpse of the future stars of the program step up in a big moment. Dvorak in goal saved two of Weber State's attempts to lift the Grizzlies once again after heartbreak halted them from advancing the past two seasons.
Dvorak was named tournament MVP while Slater, Eliza Bentler, Makena Smith, Maddie Ditta, Reagan Brisendine and Riley Carolan all were named to the all-tournament team.
It didn't come without drama as, like the Idaho game, Weber State appeared to score on Montanainn the final second of the second overtime period, but upon review from the officials, the ball didn't cross the line before the clock hit zero so the game went to penalty kicks.
Weber State put up 13 shots with five on goal in the game, while UM had 12 shots with two on goal. The Wildcats had six corners to four for the Grizzlies. Dvorak finished with three saves before the penalty kicks.
UM has won the regular season Big Sky title three seasons in a row under head coach Chris Citowicki, and now they bring home the tournament title for the first time since 2021 and await their opponent and location for the NCAA Tournament.
