McGuire leads @UNCBears soccer to tie at Montana

Sunday, October 23

Missoula, MT

12:00 p.m.

University of Northern Colorado

9-7-2, 4-4-1BSC

University of Montana

8-5-5, 4-2-3BSC

OT 3

OT 4

Northern Colorado

Montana

10/23/2016 5:02:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Thomas Hoffman, uncbears.com

Missoula, Mont – In yet another pivotal road matchup for the Bears in Big Sky Conference play, Northern Colorado took on the Montana Grizzlies Sunday in Missoula. After 110 minutes, however, neither team could muster a goal, as UNC walked away with one point and the tie against the Grizzlies.

How it Happened
It was little surprise to those keeping track of the Big Sky Conference Table how evenly matched Montana and Northern Colorado seemed on the pitchtoday.

The Bears wasted no time getting to the end line, earning a corner kick for Brooke Braden in the third minute.
A shot from Maddie Roberts lurked wide moments later.

Northern Colorado pressed forward several times throughout the half, seeing shots from their senior leaders in Kassy Castillo and Sydney Schroeder, none of which were able to break the scoring stalemate.

Montana equaled with counter attacks of their own, tallying shots from Carlee Bates, Aspen Peifer and Allie Lucas.

Senior goalkeeper Alyssa McGuire, starting her second collegiate game, once again provided a huge presence in between the pipes for the Bears, stopping three shots in the first half.

By the end of the initial 45 minutes, the game remained at a 0-0 tie, with each team earning two corner kicks.
In the second half, it was much of the same story.

Northern Colorado picked up two more corner kicks, however, the Grizzly defense cleared each one away.

Montana picked up their pace late in the half, sending shots forward toward McGuire and the Bears back four.

Fortunately, the senior form Pahoa, Hawaii, was dealing her best stuff this afternoon, finishing the afternoon with a career-high seven saves.

As the overtime period kicked in, so did the Bears' offense. Northern Colorado saw chances from the usual suspects in Sydney Schroeder, Brooke Braden and Mariel Gutierrez, but none were able to best Kailey Norman, the Montana keeper.

One hundred ten minutes later, the game eneded in a 0-0 tie, capping off a fortuitous road trip for the Bears, finishing with four points over the weekend and keeping themselves alive in the race for the final four spots in the Big Sky Conference Tournament.

Key Stat
Shots on goal – The Bears finished with two compared to Montana's seven.

Most Valuable Bear
Alyssa Mcguire – In her second career game, McGuire led the charge with seven saves and her first shutout victory of her career.

In Their Words
Tim Barrera, Head Coach
"It was great effort from our team today. We put a lot into that win on Friday, so for us to fight as hard as we did today and walk away with a point says a lot about the fight on this team."

"Alyssa (McGuire) had yet another huge game for us. She made some incredible saves that kept us in the game and as it turns out, might keep us in this race for the Big Sky Tournament."

"We'll know by game-time whether or not we'll be playing for a spot. For now, all we can do is prepare to train for a win against North Dakota on Friday."

Notables
-Alyssa McGuire picked up her second career start, second career win, career-high seven saves and first career shutout.
-Sunday's shutout marked the sixth shutout of the season for the Bears.
-Seniors Paige Morris, Kassy Castillo and Madeline Chase each played the entire 110 minutes of the contest.
-The tie puts Northern Colorado in fifth place in the conference for the moment, pending games between NAU and Idaho State and Portland State and Weber State.

Up Next
Northern Colorado returns for the final game of the regular season Friday against North Dakota. Friday's contest marks both senior day and the 100^thgame ever at Jackson Stadium. The game is free and open to the public.