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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Montevallo Falcons are in rarified air as their stellar season will now roll on into the Sweet 16 for just the second time in program history.

Montevallo defeated the Florida Tech Panthers 1-0 on Sunday, Nov. 24 in the second round of the NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer National Tournament to remain as one of the final 16 teams left standing in the quest for a national championship.

The Falcons got through to the third round for the first time since 2007 thanks to a late winner from Morgan Goehring and clean sheet from graduate goalkeeper Emily Hounsell.

The Falcons first qualified for the tournament as an at-large team after finishing runner-up in the Gulf South Conference Tournament, beating Mississippi College 4-3 on Nov. 10 before dominating Union 5-0 in the GSC semifinals at Huntsville’s John Hunt Park.

A 2-0 defeat to top-seeded West Florida ended their conference title hopes, but Montevallo’s 12-5-3 record was still deemed worthy by the selection committee of a spot in the South Regional for the first time in five seasons.

Before reaching the second round, the Falcons had to get past the Embry-Riddle Eagles in a high-scoring first-round contest on Friday, Nov. 22 at Florida Tech.

Rilee Bradbury scored the opening goal of the match in the 10th minute thanks to an assist from Lainey Farabaugh to put Montevallo up 1-0.

That lead would not last though as Embry-Riddle’s Berglind Thrastardottir equalized all by herself in the 31st minute, leaving the teams tied at 1-1 going into the halftime break.

The Falcons came flying out of the gate in the second half with two goals in the opening three minutes.

Marica Miljanovic scored for just the second time this season in the 47th minute, and just over two minutes later in the 49th minute, Shadia Valenzuela scored her 10th goal of the season. Both goals were assisted by Preslee Malavenda, and the opening flurry put Montevallo up 3-1.

Just 25 seconds later though, Grace Foyer trimmed the deficit to 3-2 for the Eagles and put pressure back on the Falcons.

The next 20 minutes passed without a goal as both teams battled it out. Needing someone to step up, Montevallo got its hero in Valenzuela who scored yet again in the 72nd minute. After polishing off her brace, Valenzuela’s two goals left the Falcons up 4-2 with 18 minutes to play.

Foyer secured her own brace in the 87th minute to make it a one-goal game once again, but Hounsell and the Montevallo defense kept Embry-Riddle from equalizing and forcing overtime, giving the Falcons the 4-3 win to advance to the next round.

Montevallo then faced a matchup with regional hosts Florida Tech on Sunday, Nov. 24 for a spot in the Sweet 16.

Hounsell came up big for the Falcons in the first half, saving shots in the eighth and 31st minutes before closing the half with three saves in just five minutes, giving them five saves in the opening 45 minutes.

Lainey Farabaugh and Isabel Dillehay launched Montevallo’s most concentrated assault of the half around the midway point as Farabaugh saw her shot ricochet off the crossbar in the 19th minute and Dillehay’s 20th-minute shot went wanting.

After going into halftime tied at 0-0, Farabaugh and Bradbury tried to break the deadlock in the opening 10 minutes of the half, but Farabaugh hit the woodwork for the second time of the day just 52 seconds after play resumed and Bradbury’s shot forced the Panthers’ only save of the match in the 51st minute.

Montevallo appeared to find the breakthrough goal in the 55th minute, but an offside call from the assistant referee wiped it from the scoreboard, keeping the teams tied at 0-0.

Hounsell kept the Falcons in the match with two more saves in the 68th and 79th minutes, opening the door for a big set piece chance in the 82nd minute.

Taking a corner kick with just eight minutes left in regulation, the initial effort off Bradbury’s cross was no good, but Goehring sent home the rebound to give Montevallo a 1-0 lead.

That lead held after Hounsell’s eighth save of the match with just 24 seconds to go, and that punched the Falcons’ ticket to their first Sweet 16 in 17 years.

Montevallo will now travel to West Florida for a rematch of the Gulf South Conference Championship on Sunday, Dec. 1 with the winner claiming the South Region Championship and a spot in the national quarterfinals.