Griz soccer heads south in search of first win

After a winless home tournament, the Montana Grizzly soccer team heads south to Reno, Nev. seeking the team's first win of the season.

The Grizzlies will take the pitch this weekend against Nevada-Reno Wolfpack and South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

Montana (0-3-1, 0-0-0 Big Sky) is coming off a recent home-stint that featured close losses to Gonzaga and Iowa State. However, a solid week of conditioning and honed determination has the Grizzlies poised for a successful weekend.

"We've had exceptional training sessions the last two days," seventh-year head coach Neil Sedgwick said. "Our practice and focus has been great this week."

The Griz are led by a talented duo of senior forwards, Kaitlyn Heinsoh and Frankie Brady, along with freshmen India Watne and goalie Juliana Jack.

Watne, a speedy midfielder, said the key to adding to the win column is working on the team's attack, although she said she's seen improvement in the past week.

Sedgwick has also seen marked improvement by his team.

"We keep building day by day. It's a process, but we've come a long way and we are continuing to get better every day," Sedgwick said. "There's been a lot of growth by this team in a short amount of time."

Montana got a glimpse of the Wolfpack last weekend as their opponent played in the Montana hosted tournament, although the two teams didn't meet.

"We're looking forward to this weekend," Sedgwick said. "We've seen Nevada play and know they will be good competition for us."

The Wolfpack (0–2–1, 0–0–0 WAC), are led by first year head coach Melissa Price. Nevada will host the Griz and Jackrabbits at Mackay Stadium.

The last time the Griz and Jackrabbits took the pitch, the Griz escaped with a 1-0 win in 2006. While it's been nearly a half decade since the two teams met, Sedgwick said if that last game was an indicator, the Jackrabbits will be a quality opponent.

South Dakota State earned a scoreless draw with Creighton in their season opener and fell to Drake 1-0 in their last match.

The Griz squad will continue their nonconference schedule with several teams throughout September as they prepare for their Big Sky conference opener that looms a month away.

Although the games don't count in league standings, Sedgwick said these games are still important in preparation for the grind of the conference schedule.

"Conference play is the business end of the year, for sure.We're just glad to have these games to get things in place to get there," said Sedgwick.

The Griz will meet the Wolfpack Friday at 2 p.m. and the Jackrabbits at noon on Sunday.

daniel.mediate@umontana.edu