CEDAR CITY, Utah – Southern Utah came into Thursday's match with the University of Montana without a goal in their last four outings, and without a home game in over a month. It was apparent that the Thunderbirds were glad to be back in Cedar City as they notched the game's opening goal just five minutes after the opening kick. SUU would get on the board when junior forward
Stacey Brinkman found herself open at the top of the box and blasted a shot past the Montana goalkeeper for her first goal of the season and an early 1-0 lead. Brinkman continued to lead the attack and picked up her first assist of the year just minutes later when she found teammate
Shelby Ostler open for the second goal of the match as the Thunderbirds jumped out to an early 2-0 lead.
The misfortune that has plagued Southern Utah throughout the season then manifested itself again as Thunderbird defender
Morgan Bridge was called for a handball in the box, resulting in a penalty kick for the Grizzlies. Junior forward Erin Craig converted the try to cut SUU's lead in half at 2-1.
The Thunderbirds would answer with two more goals in the opening half as both
Elyse Osborne and
Megan Mower found the back of the net for the first time this year. Osborne's goal came in the 37th minute when she was able to elude defenders on the right side of the box and then bend a ball into the net. Less than a minute later Mower took a pass from Ostler in stride and was able to play the ball past the charging goalkeeper to put SUU up 4-1.
“Our players knew from the start that we could get on the board,” said coach
Brian Stock of his team's offensive outburst. “Stacey started things off with a great goal and that got everyone else hungry to do the same.”
Despite the significant scoring margin at the half, the Grizzlies refused to give in. Montana upped their pressure after the break, but the two teams played the first several minutes of the second half without a score. With about 28 minutes left in the match and a three-goal lead the Thunderbirds made a change at goalkeeper as
Charly Booth replaced Breanna Fitzgerald. A few moments later the Grizzlies' offense was able to pick up some momentum when India Watne fired a hard shot that was blocked by Booth but then put back in by Craig for her second goal of the game.
Montana would then seize the momentum in the 75th minute as Craig got her head on a cross from Watne and redirected the ball into the back of the net for her third goal of the game. Then with just four minutes left in regulation the Grizzlies' picked up the equalizer on another rebound as Allie Simon tallied her first goal of the season to level the score, 4-4.
The two teams went back and forth in the two overtime periods, but neither was able to net the game winner and the match ended in a 4-4 tie. With the draw Southern Utah now has a record of 2-5-2 (0-1) on the year, while Montana is 3-5-1. The Thunderbirds will resume conference play next week as they visit defending Summit League champion North Dakota State on Friday at 4:00 p.m. and then travel to South Dakota State on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
