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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MONTEVALLO – The Montevallo Falcons are off to a flying start in Gulf South Conference play thanks to a big win over one of their in-state foes.

The Falcons defeated the Auburn-Montgomery Warhawks 6-2 on Wednesday, Sept. 18 in the team’s annual Sea of Purple match at home.

While Montevallo poured on the goals later in the match, they started off on the back foot after conceding a second-minute goal to AUM’s Lucy Thomas.

The Falcons wasted little time in responding as Morgan Goehring scored her first goal of the season in the 14th minute and Isabel Dillehay scored two minutes later, putting the hosts up 2-1.

Lainey Farabaugh got a golden opportunity for a goal of her own in the 31st minute as she stepped up to the penalty spot. While the Warhawks keeper saved her initial effort, she was there to send home the rebound and score.

AUM clawed one back in the 39th minute with a goal from Laia Gonzalez, leaving Montevallo up 3-2 at the half.

Falcons keeper Emily Hounsell came up with a big save early in the second half as the defenses kept the first 20 minutes of the half scoreless. She faced nine shots over the course of her 90 minutes in goal and earned three saves, all of which came in the second half.

Rilee Bradbury broke the stalemate after taking an assist from Shadia Valenzuela for a 65th-minute goal, making the score 4-2.

Bradbury then fed a pass to Dillehay in the 77th minute to give her a goal and the brace, and a mere 40 seconds later, Valenzuela found the back of the net to seal the 6-2 victory.

Montevallo outshot the Warhawks 23 to 9 with 11 of those shots coming on target. Of those 23 shots, Farabaugh had six total shots and four on target and Valenzuela shot five times with two shots on goal. Dillehay converted both of her shots for goals.

With the win, the Falcons move to 2-1-1 on the season with a 1-0 mark in GSC play. They will look for another conference win over Valdosta State at home on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m.