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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The University of Montevallo Falcons are off to a flying start in Gulf South Conference play after defeating the Valdosta State Blazers and West Alabama Tigers.

Montevallo defeated Valdosta State 3-1 at home on Saturday, Sept. 21 before traveling to Livingston on Wednesday, Sept. 25 to earn a 1-0 win over West Alabama.

With the wins, the Falcons now sit at 3-0 in GSC play and are in prime position to make an impact as the conference portion of their schedule rolls on.

Against the Blazers at Varsity Field, Montevallo only mustered a couple of shots on goal in the first half, one from Bear Bradbury in the fourth minute and another from Rilee Bradbury in the 24th minute.

The Falcons defense did its job in the first half and kept Valdosta State off the scoreboard, which sent the teams to the half in a scoreless tie.

However, the pace picked up from there as four Montevallo shots in the opening five minutes of the second half put pressure on the Blazers.

Eventually, the breakthrough goal came in the 65th minute when Bradbury found Marica Miljanovic to put the Falcons up 1-0.

The hosts quickly doubled their advantage just under two minutes later when Valdosta State drew a penalty, which Katelynn Kott converted for the 2-0 lead.

The Blazers clawed one back with a penalty kick of their own with a Maria Rojas shot from the spot, putting them back in the match with a one-goal deficit.

Despite the pressure, Montevallo finished the job in the 84th minute as Isabel Dillehay made the most of a pass from Bradbury to seal the 3-1 victory.

Emily Hounsell made two saves against five shots faced in 90 minutes. On the offense, Dillehay led the way with four shots and three on target.

Dillehay was the hero once again four days later when the Falcons traveled to West Alabama.

Montevallo’s defense faced little opposition as Hounsell made her only save of the match just before the 20th minute.

The Falcons attack put up a flurry of shots from then until halftime, but nothing made it past the Tigers in the opening 45 minutes.

Bradbury and Tessa Harrington offered up shots in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but West Alabama stopped both as the hosts continued to prove hard to break on defense. The Tigers finished with eight saves.

That all changed in the 83rd minute when Raylene Alcaraz sent a pass to a wide-open Dillehay for the lone goal of the match. From there, the Falcons continued to remain in control, finishing off their 20 shots in the match, and saw out the 1-0 win.

Of Montevallo’s 20 shots, nine ended up on target, which was better than the West Alabama total of eight shots with just one on goal.

The Falcons will be on the road once again to face an in-state rival on Saturday, Sept. 28 as they will face the UAH Chargers at 7 p.m. in Huntsville.