Southern Utah Edged at Home by Montana

CEDAR CITY, Utah, 10/19/12 – Southern Utah ended up on the losing side of a tightly contested match with visiting Montana Friday afternoon. Neither team was able to gain the advantage until midway through the second half when the Grizzlies offense took the lead on a header by Paytyn Wheeler. Montana then held off SUU to come away with the 1-0 victory.

“We have tried so many different approaches to setting the tone of the game,” commented SUU head coach Becky Hogan when asked about her team's intensity. “We have been serious, loosey-goosey, done nothing, we are trying to see what comes through, what works for them as their find their identity.”

The Thunderbirds and the Grizzlies both had some good looks at the net early in the match, but neither side was able to get on the board in the opening period. The visitors appeared to be the aggressors on offense in the first half, eventually going into the break holding a 12-3 advantage in the shooting column.

The game remained scoreless until the sixty-sixth minute when Montana worked the ball into SUU territory. Mary Makris then sent a cross into the box where Wheeler was able to get her head on the ball to angle it past the Thunderbird keeper to put her team out in front 1-0.

Southern Utah pushed for an equalizer in the final 24 minutes, but was unable to come up with a score. The Thunderbird offense created several solid opportunities, all of which seemed to come up just short. The first came only a few moments after the opposition's goal as freshman forward Sydney Cook found herself open for a shot. Her try would sail over the crossbar however, as SUU was still unable to get on the board. Stacey Brinkman later had a chance to match Montana's goal with a header on a crossed ball but the Grizzlies keeper was there to make the save.

The two teams posted almost identical stat lines as they each finished with six saves and five corner kicks. Montana did hold a 20-9 advantage in shots, but most of that deficit came in the first half as SUU trailed on 8-6 on tries in the closing period. Shots on goal were also essentially even as the Grizzlies recorded seven while the T-Birds had six.

“We have to finish shots, we put shots on goal but nobody is there to follow it up. We run tentatively,” explained Hogan. “Aggressiveness is something that you seem to either have or you don't. This team definitely has it but we don't always seem to do it.”

The loss moves Southern Utah to 1-6-1 in Big Sky play as well as 2-10-2. Montana is now 5-2-1 in conference play with an overall mark of 9-6-2 this season. The Thunderbirds will now wrap up their first year in the BSC with a home match against Eastern Washington this Sunday at 2 p.m.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#7 Stacey Brinkman: F; 5' 8"; Senior

#3 Sydney Cook: F; 5' 7"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#7 Stacey Brinkman
: 5' 8"; Senior
: F

#3 Sydney Cook
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: F

Players Mentioned

#7 Stacey Brinkman

#3 Sydney Cook

Players Mentioned

#7 Stacey Brinkman

#3 Sydney Cook