MISSOULA — Maddie Ditta, who had a hyper-efficient outing in Montana’s lone match last week, a 5-0 home shutout of Montana State Billings on Sunday, was named the Big Sky Conference offensive player of the week on Tuesday.
Ditta, a senior midfielder, took two shots and scored on both while playing just 36 minutes as the Grizzlies won their second straight match and posted their largest margin of victory since 2022.
It was the first career player of the week award for Ditta, who was second-team All-Big Sky as a sophomore and first-team last year as a junior.
Both of Ditta’s goals on Sunday, Montana’s second and third of the match as the Grizzlies built a 3-0 halftime lead, showed an experienced player at the absolute zenith of her collegiate career.
In other words, when the game becomes chaotic, Ditta’s calmness, a byproduct of her 4,330 minutes played as a Grizzly, stands out.
“You can see in the way she plays that that’s happening,” said coach Chris Citowicki. “Other players panic in those moments. She understands the level and the pace of it and knows what to do.”
Ditta’s first goal on Sunday was a header off a corner kick from Chloe Seelhoff, senior to senior outside the far post.
As the ball was in flight, Ditta waited. Waited. Waited, then at just the right moment, stepped around an MSUB defender, timed her jump perfectly and netted her third goal of the season.
“It’s game awareness. How many times has she done that before? She knows exactly what to do in those moments,” said Citowicki.
Ditta scored Montana’s next goal 11 minutes later to make it 3-0 in the 36th minute.
A Mia Draper cross from the left side pinballed between players until Maycen Slater collected it 15 yards out with her back to goal.
With Ditta stepping toward the action, at the top of the 18-yard box, Slater slid the ball to the senior, who took a touch with her right foot, then ripped one with her left.
There were nine Grizzlies and Yellowjackets in front of goal at the time of the shot. Ditta kicked it where they weren’t and ensured MSUB’s goalkeeper would have trouble tracking the ball through traffic.
It was Ditta’s fourth goal of the season, matching the four she had as a junior, and gave her a dozen for her career, moving her into a tie for 18th in program history with Taylor Stoeger and Hallie Widner.
Seelhoff, who made it 4-0 in the second half on Sunday, leads the Big Sky in goals with five. Ditta is tied for second with Chloe Pattison of Eastern Washington, the Big Sky preseason MVP. Both have four.
