Missoula, Montana - The scoring didn't start until late, but when it did it was fast and furious, and ended up with a SUU loss as the Thunderbirds fell to the Montana Grizzlies 2–1 on the road Friday afternoon.

The first goal of the match was scored in the 79th minute, when SUU's abbie Flandro took a pass from Payton Bonino and put a shot in the back of the net from 10 yards away.

Montana's first of two goals came in the 86th minute, when Ellie Otteson took a corner kick from Chanelle Pederson and headed the ball into the net to tie up the match.

Just about one minute later, the Grizzlies struck again, this time with Charlene Burger putting the ball back in the net off a blocked shot. This put the Grizzlies up 2–1, and the Thunderbirds didn't have much time to respond and were not able to.

The loss moves the Thunderbirds to 5–6 on the season, with an 0–3 mark in the Big Sky Conference.

SUU head coach Becky Hogan said she felt good about her team's performance, just not good about how they finished.

“I thought we had this precious road with,” she said. “The kids battled and played with high energy. Up until the last the last five minutes we did a fabulous job of weathering Montana's pressure and creating our own dangerous chances.”

Montana outshot the Thunderbirds 25–10, with an 8–5 advantage in shots on goal.

Taylor Bolding got the start in goal for SUU, finishing with six saves in the 90 minutes of play.

Hogan put it simply after the match, the team is not panicking.

“Winning on the road in the Big Sky is incredibly difficult,” she said. “We started the season with the toughest assignment in our conference, playing three games on the road and the first match vs the lone wolf this weekend. This is no excuse though, that is the reality we were presented with. Luckily we get to close out with five of our last seven games at home.”

Next up for the Thunderbirds will be their first two match homestand since the exhibition season, as they will host North Dakota next Friday and Northern Colorado the following Sunday. Hogan said the team needs fans to come out and support in a big way.

“In soccer the 12th man can without question help a team win,” she said. “We need our crowd to bring everything they've got and establish our 12th man as a force to be reckoned with. We need all of you!”