Boise State tops Montana 2-1

It was a 90-minute saga detailing the ups and downs of a team still finding its way early in the season.
 
Montana gave up a pair of goals to Boise State in the opening nine minutes in a match-up between regionally ranked opponents at BSU’s Boas Soccer Complex on Thursday evening and limped into halftime trailing 2-0.
 
A Grizzly team that looked nearly unstoppable emerged from the locker room, pulled within a goal in the 52nd minute and never let up, only an offside call that negated a potential tying goal and the clock keeping Montana from completing what would have been a remarkable comeback.
 
But Montana’s second half couldn’t overcome Boise State’s start, the Broncos winning 2-1 and picking up their first win over the Grizzlies since 2008 and snapping a 10-match winless streak against their rival.
 
“That’s what you get with young teams that are up-and-coming,” said coach Chris Citowicki. “They need these lessons, but I hate losing and so do they.
 
“We responded brilliantly in the second half, which was the message after the game. Enough of that now. We can’t keep splitting halves of the game, let’s be average, then let’s be great.”
 
Boise State, which hadn’t scored against Montana since 2011, getting shut out by the Grizzlies in six matches since, made it look easy in the opening minutes, scoring two sweet goals on crosses from the left side by Bozeman’s Olivia Collins.
 
In the sixth minute, her cross from the end line was redirected from eight yards out by Kenzie MacMillan. Less than three minutes later, a Collins cross was headed in from 12 yards out by Asia Lawyer.
 
“They came out hungrier, they came out better. They deserved to take the lead,” said Citowicki. “They were so aggressive out wide and created two really good chances and scored great goals.”
 
A different team returned from the locker room, with Chloe Seelhoff giving life to a potential comeback with a long goal from the right side that made it 2-1 in the 52nd minute, her third of the season.
 
Seelhoff, who scored twice in Montana’s 2-0 home win over Boise State last season, appeared to tie it in the 79th minute, but the goal was disallowed because of an offside call.
 
In the 85th minute, Ally Henrikson’s header from point-blank range off a corner was somehow batted to the ground and then saved by Boise State freshman goalkeeper Ava de Leest.
 
The Grizzlies created eight corner kicks in the second half to Boise State’s one. Montana’s eight corner kicks in the second half matched the eight they had for the season through halftime of Thursday’s match.
 
Ashlyn Dvorak made three saves for Montana, as did de Leest for the Broncos.
 
“You need key players in games like this to do amazing things, and I think their goalkeeper was amazing,” said Citowicki. “For a young kid, she had a very good half of soccer.”
 
The win kept Boise State (2-0-2) unbeaten through four matches, while Montana (1-2-1), which lost at home to Baylor on Sunday, drops consecutive matches for the first time in nearly two years.
 
“We’ve had such a rivalry with them. I love their program and love how they test us and how we test them,” said Citowicki.
 
Montana hosts Nevada (1-1-1) on Sunday at 1 p.m. at South Campus Stadium. The Wolf Pack scored two goals in the final five minutes to get a 2-2 draw with Cal Poly on Thursday night in their home opener.