MISSOULA - The Montana Grizzlies needed a statement, and they found it Thursday.
Because of that, they're in sole possession of first place in the conference soccer standings.
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It's been a rugged start to Big Sky Conference play for UM, but you wouldn't know that after the Grizzlies left little doubt on Thursday afternoon at South Campus Stadium as UM blitzed Weber State 4-0.
Entering the game, UM was in fourth in the league standings while the Wildcats were in second, but after Montana picked up the win and Sacramento State also lost to Idaho State on Thursday, the Griz now sit atop the league standings with three games left in the regular season.
UM improved to 8-3-3 overall and 2-1-2 in conference play.
The first half was evenly contested between the two programs, but Montana broke through in the 43rd minute as freshman Maycen Slater scored her second goal of the season off an assist from Caylee Kerr. That sent the Grizzlies into halftime with momentum up 1-0.
"I'm just so proud of our team. We've been through so much adversity this season already with so many injuries," Slater said. "I think that the younger players are doing a really good job of stepping up and everything and it's just such a good team win. I think this is really going to help us in the standings and just give us momentum moving forward."
In the second half, UM blew the doors open. In the 59th minute, Reagan Brisendine found the back of the net after Chloe Seelhoff sent a cross into the box that was headed by Taija Anderson to Brisendine, who then finished it off to make it 2-0.
Then, just two minutes later, it was Brisendine again as Eliza Bentler put a ball perfectly behind the defense where only Brisendine could get it. After easily out-sprinting the defense, she was one-on-one with the goalkeeper and the sophomore from Kalispell sent it home for her fourth goal of the season and second on the day.
"It's huge. It's so competitive this year and to get a win like this really gives us more momentum going into the next game," Brisendine said. "I think if we keep pushing, we'll be pretty good."
UM added insurance in the 80th minute as Bentler got her second assist of the day, finding Slater on a cross that she scored on for her third goal of the season and second of the day.
UM keeper Ashlyn Dvorak finished with three saves for her third shutout in four games, as UM closed it out.
Montana next hosts Idaho State (5-5-3, 2-1-1) on Sunday at noon. The Bengals currently sit in second place in the Big Sky standings after Thursday.
