MISSOULA — Last fall, as the Montana Grizzly soccer team went through the early stages of non-conference play, a 2-1 loss to the Fresno State Bulldogs dropped the Griz to 3-2-0.

UM's second loss of the regular season, the first coming against Washington State in a 3-0 shutout, ended up being Montana's last on the way to a Big Sky conference title. In the remaining 13 matches of the season, Montana allowed just five more total goals. Three of those came in a 3-3 draw against the Wyoming Cowboys.

According to head coach Chris Citowicki, Montana uses its non-conference slate to both test itself and find potential flaws. The approach helps explain why, after a 2-0 defeat against Baylor (1-0-2) Sunday afternoon, Montana's (1-1-1) panic button was still out of sight and out of mind.

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